Muggle Studies
by Sirius's Crazy Chick
Summary: A MWPP story. In their seventh year, the Marauders and co attend a muggle school. Why? Because sexual tension is so much more fun without adult supervision of course! There's love/hate all around, and a tinge of the smutty for fun. Please Read and Review!
1. The Project

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 1 – The Project~

"_Women are never disarmed by compliments. Men always are. That is the difference between the sexes." ~ Oscar Wilde_

Brenna quietly sat flipping through WM (Witches Magazine) on the Hogwarts Express, the scarlet steam engine that delivered her to school at the start of every year. Though this issue of the magazine held little interest for her, as she's already perused it twice and there were only so many ways one could wear a robe stylishly, she continued to flip through it, waiting for the arrival of her three favorite friends. After what seemed a considerably long time (she was looking at hairstyle suggestions for the _third_ time!), Arabella Figg, Erica Parker, and Lily Evens finally walked into the compartment.

The four girls were an excessively popular group. Though Lily, always trying to see the good in everyone, insisted it was because they were both smart and kind, Brenna secretly suspected it was, not to be conceited, because they were all very pretty. Though Lily was short and Arabella tall, all four were thin, stylish, and very pretty indeed. Erica and Brenna however, seemed to be the only two aware of this fact, a point that never ceased to amuse Erica, as Arabella, with her long black hair and bright blue eyes, was clearly the most stunning girl at school, and the most sought after, no contest.

Brenna smiled in amusement at her friends rolling on the ground with laughter, brushing her honey curls back from her face. "Where have you been?" she asked her laughing friends, though she suspected she knew the one thing that could make them all so helpless with laughter. After they finally calmed down, Arabella answered, between fits of muffled giggles, "Merlin Brenna, don't be such a spoil sport. We ran into the infamous marauders, and you know, it's been so long since we've seen them, we wanted to give them a proper greeting. Well Erica here had the brilliant-"

"Thank you, AJ."

"My pleasure. As I was saying, Erica had the brilliant idea to play an innocent prank. Any ways you get the idea; especially if Erica had the idea."

"I swear to Merlin, you're practically as bad as them." Brenna rolled her eyes. "_Lily_, what did they do?"

Lily pulled herself off the carpeted floor, finally having overcome her laughter. Pushing her long red hair out of her face carelessly, she fixed her eyes on Brenna, grinning. Brenna looked into the green depths, awaiting Lily's response eagerly, as Arabella and Erica were still laughing hopelessly on the floor. "Well," Lily began, barely containing further waves of laughter, "as we were innocently strolling through the cars – looking for _you_, I might add – we ran into our favorite group of flaming imbeciles. It only seemed appropriate to welcome them back. So, flirt that she is, AJ started to hit on them-"

Arabella huffed. "_Not_ of my own accord. I was forced too!"

"– which," Lily continued, ignoring Arabella's embarrassed outburst, "worked quite well because even guys who despise her, find our dear AJ rather enchanting." Arabella pulled a face at her best friend – she was stubbornly disinclined to agree that she held such sway. "So, Erica and I came up behind them and performed the Schwul Curse." At Brenna's questioning look, she clarified, "you know; the gay curse. Remember? It's of German origin, and reached its height of popularity in 1957. Flitwick mentioned it in –"

"She's lecturing again! She's lecturing again and we're not even at Hogwarts yet. AJ, make her sto-op." Erica whined.

"Hey brainiac," Arabella said, "less with the asides, more with the recap."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"That's it?" Brenna asked, ignoring the interruption and eyeing her friends with suspicion.

"Well, not quite," Erica said, picking up the narrative. "You know the bitches from 5th year, the sluts in Hufflepuff? The one that said AJ was – "

"Hey!" Arabella interjected, "we said we weren't going to mention that _ever _again. It was a horrible set of weeks." Lily patted her arm, but Erica just rolled her eyes.

"Fine. _Any_ways, they were eyeing the marauders with such lustful intentions it would have been immoral to let such rampant desire burn uncontained." Here, Brenna snorted – Erica was not particularly known for containing her desires, and had once even made out with Sirius Black in their fourth year.

"_Ahem_," Erica sounded annoyed, but actually looked perfectly amused. "I know that none of us would have found it embarrassing, self-assured chicks that we are – and by that I mean ludicrously hot – but with a 6'3" ego to match your height you shrink. Or rather, it shrinks. And you know how guys are touchy about physical contact." Erica finished finally. Realizing how that incident must have affected the _poor_ boys, Brenna doubled over with laughter and joined her friends on the floor.

Their joy, however, was interrupted.

"Excuse me, ladies. Due to the influx of bright young wizard-types –"

"– ickle firsties running amok, the pitter patter of youthful feet–"

"– full of hope, and wonder, and the promise of bright futures–"

"–yet aware of the McGonagall ire –"

"–we were unable to find another compartment–"

"–it's amazing, the affects of overpopulation, isn't it?"

"–luckily, we remembered that you four are all good Samaritans–"

"– nay, _great_ –"

"–and knew you provide us shelter from the midget horde."

The Marauders had arrived.

James Potter, the unchallenged leader of the small group, sauntered into the compartment, followed by two of his friends, and sat down causally next to Lily, wrapping his arm around her shoulder happily. James was a very handsome boy, with raven hair and brown eyes, and also very popular. It was therefore a source of constant gossip and speculation that Lily Evans refused to date him, despite his desired status and persistence in asking her out at least once a fortnight. This year started no differently. "Would you like to go out with me, Evans?" He asked her, grinning his most charming of grins.

"Sod off, Potter." Lily replied, removing his arm from around her shoulders and folding her own across her chest angrily.

Across the compartment, Remus Lupin chuckled quietly and Peter Pettigrew, in admiration, imitated him. Remus was the most pleasant member of the group (though, as Arabella often said, that was not really saying a lot) and actually got on with the girls well enough when his mates were out of the picture (rarely). With his sandy blonde hair and amber eyes, he was simultaneously handsome and shy, a trait that most girls found exceptionally endearing and classified as 'thoughtful'.

Sirius Black, the last marauder (and, according to Arabella "the biggest bleeding git in the history of bleeding gits"), did not take a seat but remained leaning casually against the doorjamb. He, equally casually, swept his long, wavy black hair, hair that always, miraculously, fell perfectly around his face, out of his grey eyes and winked. At 6'4'', Sirius was a good nine inches taller than Arabella, but this never seemed to deter her temper. Since their first year, the mere sight of Sirius Black was curiously capable of throwing Arabella into a fit of rage. "Leaving then, are you Black?" Arabella asked hopefully, though not quite managing to keep her great annoyance out of her voice – clues like spitting out his name as if it were poison and balling her hands into fists always seemed to give her true feelings away.

"Now, now, ma Belle we mustn't act that way in public." Sirius answered mockingly, "people might get the wrong idea about us."

"Quit staring at AJ, Peter." Erica said suddenly. "She's out of your league anyhow." Peter Pettigrew turned slightly red and shrank away from Arabella, who looked equally embarrassed. Peter Pettigrew always seemed like the afterthought of the group, for though he did seem to be exceptionally loyal to the other three, he wasn't nearly as tall nor as handsome, and he lacked their flare.

"Wormtail can have whomever he pleases." Sirius said, jumping to his friend's defense as usual. He turned his grin cheekily to Arabella and looked her up and down. "Besides, there's no harm in looking."

Keen to stay out of the ongoing feud between the groups, Remus pulled open a book and buried his nose in it. Lily glared at him enviously, as she dearly loved to read and dearly hated being drawn into verbal sparring matches with Potter, whose arm was creeping around her shoulders once again. Unable to follow Remus's lead, Lily set out to diffuse the very loud row looming in the very near future. "Oh," she sneered, before Arabella could reply to Sirius's goading remark, "you still have those cute little nicknames for each other I see. No doubt it conceals some very dark secret."

Pretending to be ignorant of Lily's sarcasm, and undoubtedly elated with the opportunity to have the semblance of a civil conversation with the girl of his dreams, James nodded his head solemnly, as if imparting some great secret. "Very dark indeed. So dark, in fact, that we nearly decided not to use them in public."

"I suppose it is unfortunate then that your bravado overrode your prudence, as per usual." Arabella replied, eyes narrowed.

"Well," Sirius began in a serious tone, "they are, at least, more appropriate than the ones we have for you lot. First," he nodded in Lily's direction, "there's Stuck Up Bitch-"

Arabella bounded to her feet, "Sod off, you tosser!"

Sirius was on his feet as well. "Oh, aren't we original, ma Belle? Would you like to hear yours?"

"How dare you impose yourselves upon us, insult my friends, and utterly –"

"_We_ were not the ones who opened hostilities this year. It –"

"_You're_ not the ones? I believe it's you lot who's been torturing us since our first day here. Or have you forgotten that?"

As the argument progressed, Remus sunk lower in his chair, Lily buried her face in her hands, and even James looked guilty, continually shooting glances at Lily out of the corner of his eye. With a bored expression, Brenna grabbed her magazine off the floor and prepared herself for the worst train ride ever to commence the school year.

* * *

Arabella led her group quickly through the thinning crowd, still buttoning her billowing black school robes. The 'damn marauders' had slowed them down significantly, considering they wouldn't leave when the four wanted to change, only smiling broadly in response to the girls' request, as if inviting a strip show. She stomped to her seat and threw herself down, just in time. Professor McGonagall stepped in carrying a stool and an old torn hat. The hat cleared its voice, and then began to sing, much to the shock of the new students and the entertainment for the rest of the hall.

_Welcome all you boys and girls,_

_It's that time of year._

_When young ones come into our lives,_

_With their records clear._

It might have been her imagination, but Lily could have sworn that the sorting hat glanced slightly in the direction of the Marauders and then, to her extreme embarrassment, at the four girls who had accompanied them on the train ride. As the two groups had already started bickering on their very first train ride to the school, it was doubtful if their records had ever been clear. Perhaps this is why she had not been appointed Head Girl for their final year.

_There are four houses in this school,_

_In which New Years are sorted._

_They each contain good qualities,_

_Which are about to be reported._

_Gryffindor is for the brave,_

_And those with Chivalry._

_This is really a great house,_

_And it might be yours to be!_

_Hufflepuff is also great,_

_For those both shy and kind,_

_If you're lucky you will make,_

_This house and lucky find._

_Dear Ravenclaw is also fine,_

_If you are smart and clever._

_It would be a perfect place,_

_For those that deter never._

_The last house I'm to mention,_

_Is for those both sly and cunning._

_If you join dear Slytherin,_

_You'll always hit the ground running._

_Out of four you must choose one,_

_So somehow make your pick._

_You must choose very carefully,_

_But you have to do it quick!_

The Great Hall burst into a booming applause when the song ended. The hat smiled slightly and bowed (as well as a hat can bow) to each of the house tables. Then The Deputy Head Mistress cleared her throat and began to read, "Avery, Eileen." A small girl with smooth brown hair and shiny brown eyes walked up to the hat as McGonagall lifted it up. It took a few short seconds before the hat shouted "Hufflepuff!" The little girl went running over to the Hufflepuff table and hugged her brother Derek. Then Arabella tuned out the sorting process and started talking to Lily, Erica, and Brenna.

"Lils, before we were interrupted, didn't you say something about Dumbledore's seventh year project?" Erica asked her friend while twirling a few strands of her shiny black hair with her forefinger.

"No, she didn't." Brenna answered promptly.

"Yes, she did. This was before we found you. Or _them_." Erica replied.

"If you know I said something, why did you ask?" countered Lily good-humouredly.

"I was simply trying to bring it up."

"And why am I always left out of these talks?" Brenna continued, ignoring Erica's reply.

"Because you always find the seats first and then we have to search for you for practically the entire train ride." Arabella replied, joining the conversation. "You clearly hate us and are secretly trying to avoid our company."

"Alas! The truth is out," Brenna replied with great dramatic flair.

"Do you want to know what I said?" Lily asked.

"Yes." Brenna and Erica answered together.

"All right then. You remember Stephan, the foreign exchange student?" Lily asked all three of them.

Her friends stared at her with arched brows. "You mean the one who was completely obsessed with you and followed you everywhere?" Arabella asked sweetly. "_That_ foreign exchange student?"

"Okay, so you _do_ remember," Lily continued, blushing, "Well, he went back to Beabaxtons Academy." Lily saw the look on her friends' faces and continued quickly, "Of course, I still talk to him – he swears he's not obsessed with me anymore. Anyways," She said, dismissing the questioning looks that her friends were continuing to give her, "that's completely off topic. He saw Dumbledore and Madame Maxime walking down the hallway talking. After having AJ's influence for an entire year–"

"Hey!" Arabella objected, "Erica corrupted me!" the girls started laughing at Arabella's outburst. After a moment of mock hurt, Arabella laughed as well.

"Is there a problems, girls?" They heard Professor McGonagall's voice cut across the hall. They stopped laughing immediately and put on their most sincere faces.

"No ma'am." Arabella answered meekly.

"We were just saying how promising the first years look." Brenna supplied.

"And why were you laughing?" Sirius asked, imitating McGonagall's stern voice.

"Mr. Black, please –" The professor started to say, but was interrupted by Arabella. With her eyes narrowed at Sirius she said, sweetly, "We were wondering what happened to the all the Gryffindor boys in our year." The hall was silent for a moment. Then a few people started to chuckle, despite McGonagall's furious look. Then more people started to giggle till the Great Hall was booming with laughter. Even the nervous first years smiled and some even laughed quietly, though unsure of the punch line. She wasn't entirely sure, but Lily swore that even the Headmaster smiled slightly. When the mirth died down everything resumed.

"So," Lily started again, in a lower voice, "Stephen followed them and heard a bit of what they said. She said that Madame Maxine asked what Dumbledore was doing here. He couldn't really hear because he had to lag behind, but what he heard was, 'Hogwarts is having a project just for the seventh years…new version of Muggle Studies…Would you be interested?' That's all he heard, but I think it's interesting to wonder about."

"That's because you think too much." Erica replied, grinning.

"So that's your reasoning behind the fact that you didn't become Head Girl." Arabella teased lightly, grinning at her friend.

"Well, it's the only explanation for it!" Lily replied.

Erica was about to interject when Dumbledore stood up. "Hello, all students. Welcome to Hogwarts, all those new and returning. I have an announcement before we feast. The School Board has decided that this year the Seventh Year students are to have a final project that will last nearly all year. You have passed your entire wizarding training by now, but so many like the important ability of living alongside muggles. You need to not be conspicuous in their society, and at these perilous times it is a skill that has never been more important. We have leased four houses for your use, corresponding to each house here. Slytherins in one, Hufflepuffs in another and so on and so forth. Girls' dormitories…er, bedrooms…will be on one side and boys' on the other."

"You will find in your kitchen the muggles you must get close to and study, as you are to complete a report by the end of the year. You have a full wardrobe. The clothes are magically enhanced and will change into anything _you_ personally think of except wizard robes. No magic." As Dumbledore said this he accioed all of the seventh years' wands, who looked towards the head table in shock as their wands flew from their pockets. Then he continued, "You will receive periodic updates from either myself or your heads of house Now if you will grab your dinner plates you will go to your residence for the school year. Good Luck!"

With a sudden blue light, the seventh years vanished, leaving the first years to gasp at the extraordinary power of magic.

* * *

**I just want to make a note on the Arabella Figg that appears in this story**. I was going to make this a surprise type of thing in another later chapter, but I decided not to. Because everyone is bugging me about how she is a squib, I just want to clarify. _This_ Arabella Figg is the daughter of the squib Arabella Figg and Mad-Eye Moody. Hope that clarifies things.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Problems in The Household

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 2 – Problems in the Household~

"_It upsets women to be – or not to be – stared at hungrily." ~Mignon McLaughlin_

The Gryffindor 7th year students landed in front of a very large brick house. Its two immense, wooden front doors loomed out of the darkness. Erica calmly walked up the five steps and raised one of the beautifully carved lion knockers. She let it drop. Nothing happened except for the loud thud of the knocker dropping against the dark wood of the doors. Erica looked at the others and then raised the knocker again and let it drop. When it hit the large wooden door, the door popped open.

Brenna leaned past Erica and looked into the dark vastness of the old house.

"Hello!" she shouted into the immense nothingness. Nothing happened. The house remained old and dark and somewhat eerie, as only the faint whisper of Brenna's voice echoed back through the blackness.

"Is anybody home?" Arabella whispered into the gloom as she stepped up next to her two friends. Her voice faded into the house's enormous reaches.

"Well it's obvious no one is here," Sirius announced loudly, breaking the silence and stepping over the threshold into the old mansion. He felt around for a light switch and found one, flicking it upward and bringing light to the grand entrance. The light shone down on the regal dark-wooden staircase curving down from the dark into the cheery entrance of the house.

"This place is huge!" Arabella declared, stepping in and dropping her cloak on the wooden floor. All of the girls stepped in after Sirius looking up in awe at the intricate carvings of the ceiling.

"It's like having a mini, yet quite large, version of Hogwarts all to ourselves." Brenna remarked brushing her hand against the smooth wood of the stair-rail. Then slowly, all four girls grinned at each other and started to laugh as they bounded up the stairs smiling and yelling. A few minutes later the sound of a door being slammed and giggles came rolling down the stairs.

James leaned over to Sirius and whispered, "Do you ever wonder what they do in their rooms?"

"I don't know," Sirius replied, "But I hope to Merlin it involves pillow fights and thongs." His best mate caught his eye, and they began to laugh.

* * *

"Arabella Jasmine Marie Figg, I swear if you don't get up _right_ now I'm going to-"

"You're gonna _what_, Lily?"

"Use your imagination! Honestly, you Americans are so lazy." Erica added, joining the conversation.

"That is not true," Arabella added, standing up, "I am on a different time zone."

"For seven _years_?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Precisely." Arabella stated, "Anyways Lily, do you know who my muggle is?"

"Unuh, Brenna has them all. Go shower, I'll ask her." Lily replied.

"Kay. By the way, what time is it?" Arabella asked her best friend.

"5:00"

"Merlin!" Arabella cursed. She walked in the bathroom and glanced around. "Pretty standard," she muttered, spotting the shower and walking towards it. Stopping, she tried to think it on. The showers at Hogwarts would turn on to the perfect temperature at the mere wish for a shower. Here, however, nothing happened, not even a drip. She walked back into the extremely large bedroom all of the girls shared.

"Erica, do you know how to turn on the shower?" She asked her friend, who was busy selecting her outfit for the day, one that would undoubtedly be barely appropriate for school.

Erica shrugged. "I was going to shower after you."

"Thanks. OI, LILY! HOW DO YOU TURN ON THE SHOWER?" Lily did not answer but they heard feet running up the stairs. Lily entered their bedroom then walked into the bathroom. Arabella and Erica followed her. Lily switched the knob in the shower and it turned on.

"Pretty simple," Lily said, smirking at her friends.

"Oh shut up Lily." Arabella retorted. "Muggles, with their knobs and manual labour, I _ask_ you."

"You two, since this is an old house, the shower is probably connected to everybody else's shower, so don't let the prats turn on their shower. I don't think their awake y-"

"Hello Ladies." Sirius greeted them, walking into the bathroom, "You see in this house I _can _walk up to your room without the staircase turning into a slide. Convenient, I tell you. I just came to check out your place. Make sure you girls were safe. Pretty nice, eh?"

"Out Black!" Arabella yelled as she pushed Sirius out the door.

"Now, now ma Belle, we mustn't be rude." Sirius told her as she slammed the door in his face.

"I honestly hate him!" She stated after the door was closed.

"Why didn't you ever say so AJ?" Erica asked, blinking innocently.

Lily laughed and said, "Hurry up now, ma Belle we mustn't keep Rica waiting for the shower."

"Put a sock in it, Lily." Arabella said as she threw a random sport sock in her face.

Though not automatically perfect, the shower was very nice and refreshing. As Arabella was about to step out of the shower, the water spurted and then turned icy cold. She stepped out quickly, shivering, and wrapped a towel around her. She ran into the bedroom and out the door, face contorted into an angry scowl.

"Don't you want to dress?" Erica asked following her friend. Arabella just ran to the other side of the house and burst into the boy's bedroom. Sirius quickly wrapped a towel around his waist.

"BLACK!" She screamed advancing towards him. She pushed him down forcefully, and stood towering over him. "YOU HEARD LILY! YOU KNEW THAT IF YOU TURNED ON YOUR SHOWER IT WOULD CHANGE THE WATER TEMPERATURE IN MINE!" By now the other boys were starting to sit up and rub their eyes; Arabella was very loud, especially when feeling especially annoyed, as she usually did around Sirius Black. Water from Arabella's hair dripped into Sirius's face. "THAT WATER WAS FUCKING FREEZING."

Sirius stared at her trying to hide a smirk, "That insults me ma Belle; I would never –" As Sirius tried to explain his supposed innocence, Arabella's towel slipped off, landing in a damp pile. The room went completely silent and, needless-to-say, the other three boys awakened _very_ quickly. Erica stood in the doorway, in total shock. The words in Sirius's open mouth died. Arabella bent down and took her towel off Sirius's (rather toned) stomach.

"I hate you." She muttered, and then she left the room, quickly followed by Erica, who was torn between astonishment and amusement. The room stayed silent for a second. Then Remus started to laugh and it caused a chain reaction. The other two boys started laughing, as Sirius sat there in dumb shock. "You know, if that's the kind of thing that happens when AJ hates you, I really need to get on her bad side." Peter said, grinning.

"It was certainly a lovely way to awaken." Remus agreed.

"What's wrong Padfoot?" James asked, just catching his friend's silence. "You look like you just looked old Voldy in the eye."

"Worse," Sirius said hoarsely, "She was going to kill me." Peter squeaked, horrified, but James and Remus simply laughed.

"Honestly mate, don't be so self-important. I don't think she hates you enough to jeopardize her entire future. All you did was give her a bit of a cold shower. Where's the harm in that?" Remus said, trying to comfort his friend. Sirius muttered something nobody quite heard, as he got up and returned to the bathroom where his shower was running. The other boys got up, dressed, and prepared to go down for breakfast.

* * *

Lily and Brenna were already in the kitchen when the boys arrived. Around five minutes later Arabella came through the hall into the kitchen. Her dark hair was dry and she was wearing a white lacy and very short dress.

"Don't you want to put some pants on?" Sirius asked Arabella sarcastically, after looking at her outfit, "but then again, I've already seen everything." He finished, grinning at her over a bowl of fruit loops. She narrowed her pretty blue eyes at him, but gave no other sign of acknowledging him as brushed past. "What happened now?" Lily asked, looking at her best friend.

"Ask Erica." Arabella mumbled as Erica came into the room wearing a very tiny miniskirt and similarly nonexistent top. Curious, Lily and Brenna compliantly walked over to Erica and quietly asked her. Erica glanced at Arabella and proceeded to tell them all about Arabella's mishap.

After Erica told them it was easy to see that Lily and Brenna were trying there absolute best not to laugh. It was not a very good attempt. "It's not _funny_." Arabella snapped at her friends.

"It may not have been very _funny_, but it was certainly a fantastic way to get up. Who volunteers for tomorrow?" James asked with a huge grin and a wink at Arabella. She glared viciously at him. The other boys started laughing but abruptly stopped when each of the girls slapped them very hard across the back of their heads.

Remus grinned at Arabella, who had smacked him. "Raunchy." He grinned at her and raised his eyebrows.

She looked at him in disgust. "What, are you _twelve_ today?" She replied sarcastically. Then Brenna laughed, saw Remus glaring at her and quickly started clearing her throat. She glanced at her muggle watch. "Okay, so were running a bit late. The cars are in the garage." She glanced around at the curious faces. "I looked last night." She glanced around at the still blank faces. "Oh shut up." She muttered.

"But we didn't say anything." Arabella told her friend innocently. Brenna glared at her.

"Okay so who knows how to drive?" Lily asked, "I already do."

Sirius jumped up and down. "I do! I do!"

James laughed and pushed down on his friend's shoulders. "Down, Padfoot!" James commanded. Remus and Peter were laughing hysterically at their friend while Arabella coolly observed Sirius with disgust.

The group headed out to their cars. Sirius hopped into the driver's seat of a red convertible. "I I thought the Blacks were a really old family." Peter told his friend.

"Noble and most ancient" Sirius replied dourly.

"Dare we ask _how_ you learned to drive?" Remus asked.

"Well my great uncle – the one responsible for my inheritance – insisted that I learn to drive incase wizarding transportation failed me. It happened to him once you know, before the days of apparition."

"And if you don't have a car?" Peter queried.

Remus sighed, suspecting he knew the answer, and James laughed. Sirius grinned slyly at Peter and started the ignition.

* * *

Thanks to all my readers!

**Special Thanks to:**

**BamsSk8Chic**-sorry I couldn't update soon enough. Computer troubles, you know the drill! Thanks for the nice review.

**Unauthorized Cuddler**- I'm trying to keep with your advice but since I'm mostly just retyping what I've already wrote It won't really be better till after the all-time low in Chapter 8. Please review again!

**the counter**- I don't think I really understood that. Just think of this as a daytime soap if you think it's that bad. My storyline isn't really that original, but I like what I'm writing so, if I may so politely say so, go soak your head. Thank you for your review.


	3. The First Day

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 3 – The First Day~

"_According to a recent survey, men say the first thing they notice about a woman is their eyes, and women say the first thing they notice about men is they're a bunch of liars__." ~ Unknown_

Arabella was completely unimpressed when they reached the high school. A sprawl of single story brown buildings with West Connaught Preparatory Academy emblazoned on the nearest, it hardly compared to the glamour of Hogwarts. As it was the first day back from summer vacation, all the school's students were milling around alphabetized tables, and only some were getting their schedules. Brenna reached into her purse, "Here, girls, these are your muggles."

Arabella looked down at the picture in her hand. In it was a tall bloke, about 6'2", with bleached blonde hair and dazzling green eyes, whose name, according to the label, was Hunter Green. "Excellent! Dumbledore's given me a fox," she muttered to Lily. Lily looked down to examine Arabella's picture, agreeing with a giggle and grin. Carefully tucking their pictures away, the three hopped out of the car and walked toward the tables. Brenna, Lily, and Arabella headed to the A-F table and Erica went the other way.

"Name?" The tall black boy behind the table asked, smiling. On his chest he wore a pin that proclaimed him Student Body President, and, with his deep blue eyes, shaved head, and clearly charming demeanor, there was little wonder why.

"Brenna Davies," Brenna replied with a sweet smile. He nodded, flipped through a file marked D, and handed her the schedule. Then he looked at Lily.

"Hello," she greeted, smiling widely as she always did when meeting people, "my name is Lily Evans." The Student Body President looked at Lily for a second and, smile broader than ever, said, "Nice to meet you Lily. The name's Lee Thomas." Then he flipped through a file and handed her a schedule. "Here you are."

"Thank you," Lily replied, oblivious as always to her allure. Turning around, she ran smack into Sirius. "Ouch Black! Watch it!" She snapped at him.

"You ran into me, Evans." Sirius said snidely. Without waiting for a reply, he turned to face the table to retrieve his schedule. "Move, ma Belle," he said in the bored voice that's sole purpose seemed to be the annoyance of Arabella Figg, in which it was highly successful.

Arabella turned to look at him as Lee handed her the schedule. "It won't kill you to wait your turn, Black. Unfortunately." She pushed past him to join her friends across the quad. Unfortunately for her, Sirius did not seem to take it as well as he dished it out, and he stuck out his leg in response. Noticing his childish display of rejoinder too late, Arabella tripped over it, reflexively grabbing his wrist as she fell in attempt to maintain her balance. Instead, Sirius lost his as well, falling on top of her.

"Oof. Black, get off me!" She wailed, shoving at his chest.

"Like I'd want to stay here." He retorted, as they discordantly tried to untangle their limbs.

Having retrieved his schedule, James walked over, grinning at the situation. "Bit too early in the day for a fistfight, innit?" He asked jovially, proffering his best friend a hand. Sirius grabbed it without reply and jumped up. Arabella was forced to help herself up, as Lily, Erica, and Brenna were laughing much too hard to be of any use. Back on her feet, Arabella offered a glare in her "friends'' general direction, though the crowd of interested students gathering around Arabella and Sirius undoubtedly blocked it from view. Well aware of the impending outburst, the three girls weaved through the crowd to join Arabella, as Remus and Peter did likewise towards Sirius and James.

"Black! You are such an _asshole_!" Arabella screeched at him, legendary temper already inflamed.

"Oh, I'm the asshole Figg?" Sirius let out a derisive laugh that suggested he did not find her statement funny in the least. "Need I remind you that I'm not the one who pulled down an innocent bystander?"

"YOU TRIPPED ME FIRST!" Arabella screamed; she had the tendency to scream very loudly when provoked.

"YOU –" Sirius started to yell, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a man between him and Arabella. The man was very short and stocky, with barely any of his thin brown hair left, but still capable (in that manner specific to school administrators) of conveying an excessive amount of irritation with little shift in his facial expression. "ENOUGH!" He yelled at the pair with such extraordinary loudness that they blinked at him, rather shocked. Arabella and Sirius, suddenly aware of the large crowd they had drawn (their rows were so frequent at Hogwarts that most of their fellow students simply shuffled past them in a decidedly unconcerned manner), stopped screaming at one another. The man smiled slightly, undoubtedly pleased at this effect.

"Very good." He clapped his hands together to convey just how good he thought it was. "Now who are you?" This aimed at Arabella.

"AJ Figg." She replied reluctantly. Two seconds at school and she was already notorious – how incredibly typical. Damn Black.

The man nodded his head several times and flipped through his clipboard. "That would be Arabella Jasmine Marie Figg?" A few people in the crowd snickered at the mouthful; Arabella secretly agreed with them – her name had far too many syllables for one person to handle.

"I prefer AJ." She informed him, as politely as she could manage while pondering the most painful way to _murder _Sirius Black.

The man nodded his head slightly, "My mistake." He did not sound too concerned about the mishap. "Very well then. And what is your name, young man?" He asked, turning to Sirius.

"Sirius Black." Sirius replied promptly, offering his well-practiced authority-charming grin.

The man, however, looked down at his clipboard again, leaving Sirius's attempt wasted. "Sirius Orion Black? Yes, I see. Well, you two have earned yourselves detention today after school from 2:30 to 4:00. I warn you: if I catch you fighting on campus again, you two will face more than one day's detention. Have I made myself clear?"

Arabella and Sirius, suppressing groans, nodded politely and mumbled affirmations that they had both heard and understood. Then, as the man turned his back, Arabella shot Sirius a withering glare and, as she shoved past him, whispered, "Nice going, Black," in a manner suggesting that she intended to make him very sorry indeed.

Remus, who had overheard, groaned at their immaturity, and Peter, beside him, looked concerned. James, however, seemed to have missed the entire encounter and was glaring at a fellow student who, in his opinion, was smiling much too much at Lily.

* * *

Arabella rushed through the halls looking for her first period class; she had not felt so lost since her first year, and decided that the regression could only bode ill (she had first met Sirius Black first year, and look how that turned out). Finally, she found it, hidden at the end of a very long, and now empty, hallway. She rushed through the door, her sigh of relief catching in her throat as the door closed with a loud snap and the entire classroom turned to look at her. She was well on her way to becoming too well known for her own good.

"Arabella Figg, I presume." It was not a question, and the tone was much too sardonic to offer any form of relief. "How nice of you to join us. Please find a seat." The man at the front followed her with mistrustful eyes as she found her seat; at 5'4", he should not have been intimidating, but, despite the thin grey hair comically decorating the sides of his head, Arabella found herself shrinking under his gaze. Never one to back down, however, (a trait that Lily never failed to suggest was the root of most of her problems, though how Lily could be so hypocritical, Arabella never knew), Arabella gazed back at him, in the cool manner she had perfected after years of practice on Sirius Black. The rest of his head was very shiny and very bald; he had appled cheeks and a round stomach to match; he wore round bifocals and a white lab coat with a pocket protector and an assortment of pens.

"I'm really sorry Professor…" Arabella began.

The class snickered and she narrowed her blue eyes in the general direction of the noise as the man corrected her. "_Mr_. Gellar and _please_ sit down."

"Oh, oh right, sorry sir." She said as she sunk into her chair at the back of the classroom. Sirius and James, who were also in the class (oh joy!), were in silent hysterics across the aisle. Ignoring them for once, she straightened her dress as Mr. Gellar continued where he had left off, before she interrupted. Already missing Hogwarts, she sighed and began to pull out a red notepad and pen out from inside her shoulder bag. As she bent over her neighbor leaned and whispered in her ear, "Hey." She looked up into two very big and very green eyes.

"Hi," She whispered back, offering him a little grin, pleased to know that she was not doomed to endure snickers from the entire school population every time she so much as moved.

"I thought it was totally unfair what old man Heckles did to you earlier." He whispered as she sat upright again, school supplied on the desk.

Having arranged her notepad and pens so that they were aligned with the edges of the desk, she looked up at him quizzically. "I'm sorry. Who?"

"Mr. Heckles, the guy who gave you the detention."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he's the guidance counselor around here. But, he's also the janitor because the other one quit after an argument with the cafeteria ladies. The school's a bit low on funding, to be honest, with all these government cuts."

As it had never occurred to Arabella that a school might be low on funding, she was at a loss at what to say. Mr. Gellar, having noticed their conversation, saved her the burden of confessing her ignorance. "Well, well, Ms. Figg, it seems you have warmed up quite well to our Mr. Green. My toasts to your accomplishment, Mr. Green. Now please, enlighten us unto the contents of your lovely conversation."

"Errr…that's okay. It probably wouldn't interest you." Arabella replied, looking at the teacher with an apologetic grin.

"Oh no." He replied, shaking his head in emphasis, "I would really love to know what was so interesting that you would dare interrupt my class to talk about. Do share."

"Well," Mr. Green started, flashing a familiar, charming smile at the teacher, "We were just saying how wonderful we think this class is going to be."

"Thank you Mr. Green. Now if you would please pull your head out of my butt, you will serve detention today after school. Would you like one Ms. Figg?"

"No, thank you sir. I already have one."

"Well then, I think that will be all. Now back to business. The semester outline is being passed out…"

Arabella turned back to the guy sitting beside her, who seemed to be grinning in appreciation at Gellar's statement. "By the way," Arabella said, "I'm Arabella, though I beg you to call me AJ."

His grin broadened into a smile, and he discreetly stuck his hand in Arabella's direction. "It is truly a pleasure to meet you AJ. Hunter Green."

* * *

Thanks for reading!

**Special Thanks to:**

**oOoLintuoOo**- Well actually who I pair them up with in the beginning may not work out. If you want to know about Lily, Arabella, James, and Sirius, it's in my profile. The other four aren't there yet. You'll find out soon enough because I'm trying to update quickly. Thanks for your review.


	4. Detention

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 4 – Detention~

"_Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.__" ~ Erica Jong_

Sirius wandered through the hallways of the high school. _Honestly_, he thought to himself (obviously)_, I cannot believe I have yet another detention with Figg. As if the woman weren't bloody irritating enough under the best of circumstances, we are always having to polish the trophy room together at Hogwarts just because we occasionally talk too loudly and, what do you know, the muggles are just as strict about appropriate volume levels. A detention on my first day, and it's not even with James. Or Remus. Or, hell, even Peter for that matter._ He turned the corner and ran into Arabella laughing with that Hunter bloke from period one outside of the allocated detention room.

"Mr. Heckles did not honestly do that." Arabella laughed, touching the prat's arm as she spoke.

"No, I swear he did!" He replied, grinning down at her. If one could really call it a grin; Sirius would classify it as more of a licentious smirk so transparently insincere that Arabella had to be much more gullible than Sirius had previously realized to even think it genuine, which she clearly seemed to. _Humph_.

Deciding that, enemies or not, Gryffindors ought to stick together, Sirius reluctantly joined Arabella and this muggle sod to save her from her notoriously poor judgment. "Hello," he greeted them calmly, offering a smile that appeared so much more sincere than Hunter's that Sirius was surprised Arabella didn't double take and immediately balk from Hunter's touch.

"Hey," Hunter replied in some false display of civility.

Arabella, much more straightforward than the questionable bloke next to her, turned to Sirius with a sneer. "Why hello, Black. Fancy meeting you here. Oh, wait," she wrinkled her brow in mock confusion, "aren't you the reason I'm here in the first place? Due to your truly extraordinary display of balance, you have to drive me home because the other six had to cram into my car. They didn't want to wait around, you see, as they managed to go a whole day without landing themselves in detention."

"I hardly see why you choose to blame me for your misfortunes." Sirius replied, a haughty scowl decorating his features. "I do believe you're the one who fell, and we already discussed who's at fault there."

Hunter shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, but he was ignored by the pair; as far as sparring went, they only had eyes for each other.

"Oh, as usual, you're right Sirius. I apologize _sincerely_ for blaming you. Had I only known you were going to place yourself in my path, I surely would have been courteous enough not to trip over your oafish feet –"

Hunter cleared his throat and stepped between them, having already witnessed one row between the two. "I think we can go in now…" He said, quietly yet authoritatively, gesturing towards the open doors that several other students were filing through. Arabella stopped glaring at Sirius and turned to Hunter, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry" she muttered to him, as they walked into the cafeteria.

Sirius made a very rude gesture at their retreating backs as he reluctantly followed them through the double-doors.

* * *

"I'm driving I'm driving I'm driving!" Erica shouted as she dashed towards the car, book bag swinging on her shoulder. Lily and Brenna followed behind her, laughing at her antics. Behind them, the boys that composed three fourths of the group dubbed the Marauders lagged, looking rather put out by their lot in life.

"Sirius just had to go and get a detention didn't he? He just couldn't help himself." Remus grumbled. In actuality, he was not so much angered with Sirius for landing himself a detention (that, after all, was hardly unusual) as he was for creating this current situation. Unlike Sirius and, for the most part, James, Remus did not dislike the company of these girls, but he very much disliked being put between them and his group of friends.

"Tell me again," James said, "_when_ did Sirius get a detention?"

Remus sighed. "This morning, he and AJ got into a fight when we were getting our class schedules. The guidance counselor at this school decided the best course of action was detention for the pair."

"Like that will accomplish anything," Peter said mockingly, unwrapping a delicious muggle candy bar labeled 'Milky Way' that he'd discovered during lunch in an overly large box that was apparently called a 'Vending Machine'. And vend it did, he smile contently, biting off a piece of chocolate, vend it did.

Seeing that James was preparing to respond in agreement with Peter, steering this conversation off-track _again_, Remus hurriedly continued, "You know, you were _there_. We were all standing about two feet behind Sirius at the time."

"I was distracted," James explained, eyes drifting forward to the back of a very pretty redhead. His lips spread into a euphoric smile, a smile that Remus and Peter had by now learned was unconscious and a sign that diverting their friend's attention elsewhere was momentarily impossible. So Remus simply sighed and adjusted his schoolbag, and Peter returned to his candy bar.

"Yo Peter," Brenna said, addressing the boy from her perch by the door. Surprised, Peter looked up at her curiously, mid-chew. "None of that in our car, got it?" Not the combative sort, Peter merely nodded pleasantly and finished off the treat.

On the other side of the car, Lily and Erica were in the midst of an argument.

"Get out of the driver's seat Erica."

"I don't think so."

"Erica, get _out_ of the driver's seat."

"No! Why should you be the only one allowed to drive?"

"Because I _can_."

Erica furrowed her brow in mock consideration, then never good at pulling a face for long, grinned at her friend. "You're so reasonable. It's that kind of logic that will get you so far in life." With a laugh, she slid out of the driver's seat, handing Lily the keys. As Remus jumped over the door into the front passenger seat (which was called 'shotgun' for reasons unknown to even Lily, who understood muggle customs very well, as she was a Muggle-born herself), Erica looked around the car. "Now where am I going to sit?" She asked quizzically.

"Here, you can sit on me." Brenna replied from the back seat, patting her lap.

James lifted his eyebrow and grinned at them, "_Oh _my." All three girls turned to look at him, and only Erica seemed the least bit amused.

"See Potter, _this_ is why I don't like you." Lily said looking disgusted.

"Why, because you're a _lesbian_?" He asked, smirking. It was a wonder to Remus that James continued to profess his unwavering love for Lily, as the boy truly relished teasing her.

"Oh no! Potter, you've finally discovered my secret: the reason that I don't like you is because I'm a lesbian who hates all men, and not because you're a chauvinistic perv who thinks he rules the school just because his parents are wealthy and he happens to be able to stay on a broomstick. Whatever shall I do?"

Peter and Remus stared at James, trying not to laugh for the sake of friendship, while Brenna and Erica, under no such obligations, laughed and applauded Lily.

"Point one for Lily," Remus finally said, unable to contain his amusement any longer.

* * *

Mr. Heckles paced up and down the front row of all the assigned to serve detention, much like a battle commander offering his troops an encouraging speech. He, however, stared at them gravely and shook his head even more gravely, beginning a speech that was not uplifting in the least. "Today is only the first day of school and all of you have detentions. I can already tell that you are going to be the troublemakers and it will be under this unfortunate impression that we shall grow to know one another. But, while you're enjoying your life now, without a care in the world, I beg you to think about where you will all be in ten years, because, believe you me, your future looks dim. I think all of you should focus and try to stay out of trouble this year." Though he looked quite prepared to continue, he finally seemed to realize that all of the students present had ceased to listen the moment he opened his mouth. The poor man closed his lips decisively and emitted a very loud, very sharp whistle. The students before him winced, covering their ears and squinting their eyes.

A short redhead in the back grabbed her ears and shouted "Oh, Fuck!"

Mr. Heckles gave her the professional, school-appropriate version of the glare.

"I mean shit!" she clarified.

He glared at her again.

"Alright, I'm going, I'm going."

He watched her walk out of the door. "Would anyone else like to visit the principal's?" The students before him shook their heads, and he nodded knowingly. "I thought as much. Today, you lot are going to be cleaning the cafeteria. You have until four, and I expect it to be spotless. If you're not done by then, you will be back here tomorrow." With a look that suggested they had been warned, Mr. Heckles turned and finally left.

Arabella sighed and turned to Hunter, "I suppose we've got to get started, then."

He grinned at her and handed her a broom. "This is hardly the worst detention he's come up with – undoubtedly he's just trying to cut down on his janitorial time. But, since we're forced to spend time with each other for the next hour and a half, why don't you tell me about yourself? I'm sure it will pass the time beautifully."

She grinned at him, feeling a little shy. "Well, my mum is English, but I was born in the states, actually; mum was there on business. I lived in Texas; it's on the southern border?"

"I've heard of it." Hunter offered, though not sounding too sure of himself.

"I'd have to say that's where I learned all my good manners and appropriate social conduct." She said, her tone serious, but a wicked spark of good humor glittering in her eyes.

"Oh, I can see they teach extraordinarily well there," Hunter agreed, attempting a serious tone. The attempt, however, failed, and the two dissolved into laughter. "But seriously," Hunter began, laughter subsiding, "what is between you and that Sirius bloke. You seem to really loathe him." He glanced at her questioningly through the corner of his eyes. "He's not an…an ex boyfriend or anything, is he?"

Arabella laughed again, though it sounded much more derisive than joyful. "Oh no, nothing so atrocious, I assure you." Hunter did not reply, but looked at her, broom quite forgotten in his hands, waiting for her to continue. "We've never gotten on well, since we met, and I suppose one could say that it's gotten worse over the years." She shrugged. "It really wouldn't be a big deal, except we're sharing a house for the year so I can't avoid him."

"What?" Hunter looked both startled and curious, clearly wondering the circumstances that could bring about such an unfortunate living situation.

Luckily, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts, was an immensely clever man, and foresight happened to be one of his many talents. Along with the pictures of their muggle topic, instructions for the assignment, and information about basic aspects of muggle life, the man had also provided a piece of parchment stating the reason that eight teenagers had for living together during secondary school, which every seventh year had committed to memory before stepping foot out of their house, at Dumbledore's request (which were really more like kindly worded orders). Thanking Merlin that Dumbledore always did seem to anticipate everything, Arabella recited the statement: their parents, all working in the entrepreneurial division of a large firm, were asked abroad this year to open another branch on the continent. As it was their last year and they did not want to leave, the eight asked their parents if they could stay. Not wanting to leave their children alone for a year, their parents had decided they could all only stay if they leased a house together.

The explanation made sense, and it was boring enough not to prompt questions. Proof of that, Hunter nodded and did not proceed to ask any more questions about it.

"I believe it's your turn," Arabella said to him, sweeping dirt into the dustpan.

"I was born here, actually…"

* * *

Sirius leaned against the car, fiddling with something silver, wishing he wore a watch so that he could glance at it, annoyed, if for no other reason than to break the monotony of looking at the school entrance, annoyed. Having waited half an hour for Arabella after detention let out (who stayed late for _detention_?), he was sorely tempted to leave without her; she could probably find her way back to the house _eventually_. Indeed, the only thing that kept him rooted to the spot, bored as he was, was his affection for his best friend. He was clever enough to know that the row this action would undoubtedly cause would surely involve Lily, which would mean that Lily would undoubtedly be angry at Sirius and, by default, James and company, which would undoubtedly cause more wounds in the scarred relationship between Lily and James, and Merlin knew that boy had suffered enough heartache over the past six years.

Luckily, Sirius was not forced to test his loyalty for James, as Arabella finally walked out of the building, that tosser Hunter by her side. Seemingly sensing his glare, Arabella looked in Sirius's direction, caught his eye, and quickly turned back to Hunter. "I honestly have to go now. Black looks furious and I do have to endure an entire car ride with him."

Hunter looked down at her and grinned. "No you don't."

She smiled politely at him, "Yes, I do. Because even if I don't have to fear the wrath now, my staircase doesn't…isn't, er, booby trapped yet, and I don't fancy waking up to pranks in the middle of the night." An understanding smile etched across his face, Hunter pulled her into a warm hug and kissed her on the cheek.

"Call me, Belle." He said, as she waved goodbye over her shoulder.

"See you later." She replied quietly.

The glare Sirius fixed on her was beyond furious. "Get in." he said tersely, leaving Arabella all too aware that he had left a few choice words out of that statement. She could hear the anger in his steps as he stomped around the car to the driver's side, sense the resentment in his muscles as he slammed his door shut, feel the heat in his gaze as he switched the ignition. Yes, having often felt that enraged herself, Arabella was aware of the anger in his every movement. In an attempt to ignore his rage (it's not as if she actually _cared_), Arabella looked out the window, forehead resting against the cool glass.

"Black, watch the road!" Arabella shouted suddenly. Slamming on the brake with a kneejerk reflex, reaction time clearly honed by playing beater, Sirius loosened his white-knuckle grip on the wheel as a mini cooper passed in front of them, its horn blaring with affront. He shook his head, trying to retrain his focus, as Arabella continued to shout at him.

"Black! What in the name of Merlin were you thinking! You almost got us into a bloody car accident! I thought you said you could drive –"

"What were _you_ thinking? We've been at school for one day and you're already snogging that Hunter fellow! Honestly Arabella, I can't believe you're such a hussy!"

"WHAT?"

"Don't act surprised; it's trite. _You've_ only known this bloke for a few hours and already you've decided to snog him. Merlin knows by this time tomorrow you'll be in his bed!"

"BLOODY HELL, BLACK! You're a fucking nightmare! _He_ pecked _me_ on the cheek! That hardly qualifies me as a floozy!"

* * *

"Evans, would you –?"

"No."

"But, you haven't even heard my question."

"Go on then."

"Evans, would you go out with me?"

"_No_!"

"Shhh!" Brenna looked up from the coffee table, where the six of them were finishing assignments in relative silence (aside from the occasional exchange between Lily and James, and the ensuing sigh from Remus) and cocked her head to the side. "I think they're home." She muttered sarcastically; they could hear the dynamic duo arguing rabidly through the walls.

"Oh, this cannot be good." Remus mumbled, dropping his pen to follow the others through the kitchen to the garage. Obnoxious as these rows were, they made great entertainment.

Before they'd walked five steps, Arabella burst through the kitchen into the entrance hall. "BESIDES BLACK, WHY DO YOU FUCKING CARE IF I _AM_ A SLUT? IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE TO YOU AT ALL!"

"I DON'T CARE," Sirius roared, following her up the stairs and turning the opposite way where the stairs split towards the end of the house the boys had taken over. "I JUST DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD BE BRINGING A MUGGLE TO THIS HOUSE AND SHAGGING HIM!"

"GO TO HELL!" Arabella shouted as she slammed her door.

"GLADLY! IT'LL BE BETTER THAN ANYWHERE WITH YOU!" Sirius yelled back as he banged his door closed.

In the sudden quiet, the group looked at one another, not particularly surprised at the day's development, but not particularly overjoyed by them either. Lily raised her eyebrows at Erica. "Three fights in one day, I ask you." She shook her head.

"That we know of." Peter clarified, an illumination that hardly brought hope to the group.

"This year is going to be nearly as fun as Hogwarts. Dumbledore couldn't have gotten us a bigger house?" Erica sighed. "Should we go check on her, do you think?"

"A world of no," Brenna put in. "I have heard how awful 'Black' is so many times from AJ that I could rant for her." They all laughed, except Lily, for though she secretly agreed, she would never ridicule her best friend behind her back.

"Oh, I bet we've heard ten times worse about your friend." James informed them.

"Not possible." Lily said, seriously.

"I dare to disagree," Remus countered.

"Tea?" Erica asked

There was a general sound of agreement from the group, and they continued their interrupted trek to the kitchen, chattering about what might have cause the fight this time and who had started it (though that was rarely a serious question, as the mere presence of the two in the same room was enough to spark a heated row).

* * *

Sirius crept out of the room quietly and headed down the grand staircase into the kitchen. Though he and James typically snuck down to the kitchens most nights at Hogwarts just for something to do, he was actually hungry tonight, as he had missed dinner to avoid Figg. He opened the door the refrigerator slowly and was just about to get some eats when he heard a creak in the staircase. He quickly shut the door and morphed into his animagus form. Not ten seconds later, none other than Arabella Figg appeared in the kitchen, wearing what in her mind must have passed for pajamas, though Sirius was not sure that a black tube top and a pair of Spiderman boy's briefs were night clothes in the classical sense. She saw Sirius, or rather Padfoot, and stopped eyes wide in confusion. _Oh no, oh no_ Sirius thought to himself, wondering why he had decided becoming a great black _dog_ had seemed like a good idea.

She blinked several times, in rapid succession. "Oh brilliant, Black's finally driven me mad. Lovely," She said in the darkness, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Are you real? Come here then," she said to Padfoot, patting her thighs as she sat down at an island chair. Sirius looked at her for a second. _Oh, what the hell. It can't hurt._ He padded towards her. "That's a good boy." She said as she lifted his head onto her lap. "Aren't you a pretty boy?" She laughed, scratching him behind the ear. Sirius was beginning to understand why dogs enjoyed being scratched behind the ear so much; it felt very nice. "Your eyes are quite lovely. They're a bit…familiar. Well, I'm sure you get that all the time. Oh, bloody _Hell_!" She cursed suddenly, causing Sirius to jump back. _She doesn't know it's me, She doesn't know it's me_, he pleaded with himself.

"Oh Merlin, maybe that wanker Black is right. I have based my whole belief system around his being wrong. (Sirius thought that nearly flattering – her _whole_ belief system?) He called me a 'tramp' today, though that's hardly unusual. And hardly fair! He'll have sex with just about any girl that can walk, and Merlin _knows_ the last time he had a relationship that lasted more than one night. (Sirius had never before so appreciated a dog's inability to smile; he was very proud of his accomplishments.) And he has the gall to call _me _loose! Honestly!" She frowned down at the-dog-who-was-really-Sirius-Black and sighed.

"Be pleased you haven't got to deal with him. He's a nightmare! He struts around, thinking he's a king, calling me 'ma Belle'? What _is_ that? (_French, I believe_, Sirius thought.) Oh, that reminds me," she smiled warmly down at the dog, the dog who was inexplicably in the middle of her kitchen, "This boy I've met at school, Hunter, called me that 'Belle' today, which, if I'm entirely honest, freaked me out a little; Black is the _only_ person who calls me that and I'd really hate to think that this boy could be like Sirius Black. He's so kind, sweet, and not to mention _very_ handsome. I mean he is just incredibly…unBlack-like. (It was all Sirius could do to keep from growling; she thought this bloke was better looking that _he_, Sirius Orion Black? Hardly possible.) We only need one Sirius Black in this world." Arabella paused, grabbing a banana out of the fruit bowl in the middle of the marble island, while _Padfoot_ tried very hard not to growl.

"I think I need to get some sleep." Arabella said suddenly, swallowing a large bite of banana. "Look at me: I'm talking about a boy I _hate_ to a _dog_ that has mysteriously appeared in the _middle_ of my_ kitchen_. If this insanity doesn't disappear with sleep, I'm going straight back to Hogwarts and asking Dumbledore to lock me in St. Mungo's." (Sirius decided to keep that plan in the archives, in case Arabella Figg just became more than he could take). "Night pooch." Arabella yawned, tossing her banana peel in the trash and walking out of the kitchen.

Sirius waited until he heard Arabella reach the top of the stairs before he changed back into his god given form of human teenage boy. "She's an odd girl, that one." Sirius muttered to himself, shaking his head and opening the fridge again.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

All my love,

SCC


	5. Life Without Cars

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 5 – Life Without Cars~

"_My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." ~ Tim Allen_

"Ugh, I had the strangest dream last night," Arabella said to Lily, as the two selected their outfits for the day. Lily greatly appreciated Arabella's help, as it took the girl half as long to think of something twice as good, a talent Lily truly envied.

"Ooo, tell all!" Erica exclaimed, walking out of the steaming bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.

"Don't get too excited," Arabella warned, holding a pair of jeans to her waist, "I was hungry, so I decided to go to the kitchen for a snack."

"Oh no," Erica gasped sarcastically, or as sarcastically as one can make a gasp sound. "Maybe it means you're going to get fat?" she exclaimed in mock horror, clapping her hands to her cheeks.

"Oh, ha, ha. So, I walked into the kitchen, and I swear to Merlin that I hallucinated because sitting next to the fridge was a massive black dog with the eeriest grey eyes." Arabella paused for a moment thinking. "They just kept staring at me."

Lily ran over and hugged her friend, feigning terror. "Merlin's word, it must have been the Grim." Going along with Lily, Erica jumped up from her place on the sofa and grabbed the two of them in a bear hug. "We're all gonna die!" Lily and Erica screeched in unison, then, unable to fight it anymore, Lily and Erica burst out laughing, much to amused at their supposed humor in Arabella's opinion.

Brenna entered the common room area (which had largely been converted into a closet), looking around in confusion. "What in the name of Merlin is so funny?"

Lily and Erica pointed at Arabella through fits of giggles. Arabella, however, rolled her eyes at the pair. "Come off it, I never said it was "The Grim"; I said it was a dog," She said shaking her head and as she slipped on a pair of bronze ballet flats.

"That clarified things," Brenna replied sarcastically, examining herself in the mirror.

"They're laughing at my dream, or hallucination, or whatever I had," Arabella answered, "And they're acting very sympathetically, are they not?"

Lily, still grinning, shook her head at Arabella, "You know I can't resist wizarding superstitions. But, go on; I do want to hear about it."

"Do as Lily says!" Erica called from the bathroom; her tears of laughter smudged her eyeliner, forcing her to reapply the black makeup.

"I always do as Lily says." Arabella called back. Turning back to the room, she continued, "_So_, I assumed I was hallucinating because of the dog – since when do dogs appear out of thin air? – and, me being me, I decided it would be a brilliant idea to spill my troubles to the poor beast. And, oh, I don't know, it seemed to understand me and that sort of…freaked me out?"

Lily frowned, thinking.

"How is that strange?" Brenna asked.

Arabella shrugged; she had to admit it sounded much less weird spoken out loud than the memory in her head did. "I honestly couldn't tell you; I just felt odd about it." She shook her head, mussing her bun up a little.

"That's not as weird as the one I had about the giant squid and the pumpkin juice –" Erica began.

Lily's sudden, panicked screech cut her off. "Oh _no_! We're going to be late too school!"

Slightly amused, the three humored Lily and raced after her down the staircase. They were in for an unexpected surprise, however. When they got to their car, they found a small piece of bright yellow muggle parchment (from a package marked 'post-it', which contained nifty squares of sticky paper – muggles were so odd) stuck to the window on the driver's side:

_Morning girls,_

_Sirius and James have informed me that they decided to go 'joy-riding' last night (perhaps Lily could fill you in on the meaning of that term, as I'm not precisely sure of the definition – I didn't want to ask). As our car was out of gas, which is, apparently, necessary to make it run (Muggles, I ask you!), they siphoned off most of the gas in your tank. We would have waited for you but were running a bit late ourselves._

_My apologies,_

_Remus_

With an angry snort, Brenna threw the note down onto the garage floor and slammed her palm against the button to open the garage door. As soon as the door began to open, she slipped under the gap, her friends following close behind. Once free in the morning air, they started to run. Lily quickly took the lead, as she had been on the cross-country team at her muggle primary school before a letter delivered by owl informed her that she was, in fact, a witch. She also happened to be wearing shorts, which the other three, ensconces in tight jeans, began to envy. After what seemed like a very long time (though it couldn't have been), they made it to the entrance hall of the main building and split. Arabella veered down the long, one again deserted hallway to Mr. Gellar's room. She opened the door as quietly as she could, when, luckily, Mr. Gellar's back was turned. She flipped James and Sirius off as she made her way to her seat. As soon as she sat down, Mr. Gellar turned around and looked directly at her.

"Ms. Figg, please enlighten me. Why are you always late to my class? Yesterday it was because you couldn't find it. What is the excuse today? Surely you did not get lost again?" He voice was falsely pleasant, narrowed eyes warning her to carefully consider her answer.

With a murderous glare in the direction of the incorrigible pair, she faced her teacher. "Well…_Sir_. Today I woke up on time and was, of course, ready on time. Unfortunately, our car was out of gas, as some of my housemates decided to borrow it last night." She once again shot a disgusted glare quickly in the direction of a Mr. Black and a Mr. Potter. "We only live about two miles away, and I ran here as fast as I could so I wouldn't be late. Rather, any _more_ late." She offered the man a small, apologetic grin, hoping he would take pity on her plight.

Mr. Gellar looked at his watch. "In fifteen minutes?"

"Er, about?" Arabella replied, confused as to his train of thought.

"Impressive." The professor replied.

'What?' she thought.

"What?" Hunter asked aloud, staring at the man with a questioning look on his face.

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, a little more loudly than Hunter. James and Sirius exchanged confused glances, then stared hard at Mr. Gellar, wondering if the man was playing a prank (in which case, they would have to reevaluate their opinion of him).

"As well as teaching chemistry, I coach the cross country and track teams. As you seem to be quite fast, I would love for you to come out of for the team; you would be a wonderful addition." Mr. Gellar said, answering everyone's question. This time, the looks James and Sirius exchanged were muffled grins; the man reminded them of the potions master back at the castle, who also had a habit of looking at students as collectible items; they would know what it sounded like, after all, as they were some of the man's most valuable acquirements.

"Oh," said Arabella, surprised. "Er, sure."

"Very good. Now, back to class. Please turn your book to page one seventy-seven, if you will."

* * *

"That was close," Hunter whispered in Arabella's ear after class. She shoved him playfully and grinned. "So, I was thinking," Hunter continued a little louder, "that my crew and I would join cross-country with you."

Arabella looked at him, surprised, and not altogether sure what to make of this offer. "Why?" she asked, in a blunt manner Hunter would soon learn was typical of her.

Not at all put out, Hunter shrugged in an offhand way. "Well, the football season isn't until winter, and, to be quite honest, I've always found rugby a little too bloody to play. I don't want to end up dead, you know."

Arabella laughed, "I'm glad to see you've got your priorities all straightened out. And I don't particularly want you dead either. Then I would have to serve detention all alone, and I imagine it would be much less tolerable," the two smile widely, as if they has referenced a particularly amusing inside joke. Hunter laughed and pecked her on the cheek.

Sirius and James, who were walking behind them, made disgusted faces and pretended to retch.

"Truly appalling," Sirius said, looking at his friend with a sly grin.

"Horrendous, old chap, absolutely horrendous," James agreed, assuming a snooty manner of speaking that any true Slytherin would envy. Dropping the act, he turned to Sirius, "What do you imagine they'll do to us now? Dear old Figgy seemed terrible angry."

Sirius shrugged, unconcerned. "I honestly don't know, though I can't say I'm terribly concerned. And Figg's anger is hardly telling; the bint's always pissed off about something."

"Padfoot, old mate," James said, shaking his head at his friend. "She is going to kill you one day, and then where will I be? Friendless, Lilyless, alone in the world…"

"So, rather like you are now, I suppose," Sirius replied, grinning cheekily.

"Very clever, ha, ha," James muttered in reply, glaring at his friend. Sirius met his friend's gaze, looking down, and grinned very broadly. James knew that grin too well; examining the nearly imperceptible one inch difference in their height, he exclaimed, "One inch Sirius, its one inch!"

It was unfortunate that at that moment a very pretty blonde girl passed by them. "Oh dear, boys. I hardly think that's hallway talk." She said as she walked by, obviously having heard the last part of the conversation. Sirius and James stared at each other for a quick moment, "Oh," they muttered at the same time.

Sirius walked quickly up to the girl. "We were talking about our height." He said to her as she stepped in front of her.

The girl looked at him. "I assumed as much; I was kidding. My name is Jamie by the way." She said, sticking out her hand. He picked it up and kissed it.

"Sirius Black." When she laughed slightly, he said, "Yes, my parents are very evil, indeed; it's a star, in case you were wondering, and not the most unusual in a history of very bizarre names. Now, more importantly, what class do you have next?"

"I have geography with Mrs. A." She responded, smiling expectantly at him.

"Oh, I'll take you there. That's right on my way." He said, putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her away from the science corridor. As they left, he looked over his shoulder and winked at James, who was shaking silently with laughter at his friend's truly remarkable ability.

* * *

As soon as the final bell rang, Lily dashed out of class in an uncharacteristic display of distraction from schoolwork. She weaved her way through the milling crowd of students to the Senior Lot, heading directly towards a red convertible parked underneath an old tree, the best spot in the lot. Of course. Already waiting for her at the car were Erica, Brenna, and Arabella. They three were in the middle of an energetic conversation about the good-looking boys at their new school.

"Lee Thomas is really quite good-looking." Erica said pretending to fan herself. Arabella laughed.

"I doubt there's a girl on campus who would disagree with you. Have you met this Daniel Smith boy yet?" Arabella asked, "He's so incredibly dreamy; it's all I can do in history to not stare at him for the _entire_ period."

"Those are two very excellent choices," Brenna began, grinning, "but I do believe we've left out someone. _Please_ tell me you know who Patrick Watson is. That boy is firing." The four girls smiled happily. Before Lily could suggest her pick of the muggles, they were interrupted by a mocking falsetto.

"Have you _seen_ Sirius Black? That boy is one _fine_ specimen." Sirius said, sauntering over.

"He hardly compares with James Potter. Can you say, 'foxy!'?" James put in, following Sirius over and leaning on Erica. She gave him a look that was more amused than disgusted, but pushed him off, nonetheless.

Chuckling at the antics of his best friends who, it had become evident some years ago, could never resist the temptation of drawing attention to themselves, Remus ambled over to the car and took the keys out of his pocket with a jingle.

Lily stared at them, unable to decide if she was more amused or more annoyed, Regardless of her current emotional state, she decided to play along, "Oh, we _quite_ agree that you're going to be hot." James and Sirius grinned and winked at each other, James looking particularly hopeful. Remus was set to be suspicious, but at that moment Arabella sauntered up to him, grinning, and that quite removed any _thoughts_, suspicious or otherwise, from his mind.

"We do hope the walk home doesn't overheat you." Erica added, after a moment's pause, and Arabella snatched the keys out of Remus's hand with a wink.

"Have fun boys." Arabella added sliding into shotgun. Soon a cloud of exhaust from their car surrounded the four boys as the girls drove of laughing.

* * *

"This is all your fault, Padfoot. And yours, Prongs." Remus grumbled at the pair, shoving them into one another as he walked out of the parking lot. James and Sirius stared at each other and bolted after him. Infinitely mellower than his friends, Peter merely shook his head and walked slowly after them, seeing no reason to rush after the three. That was their problem – they were always _rushing_ after things.

"Come on Moony, don't be like that." Sirius said, shooting his best puppy eyes at Remus. Well-accustomed to his friend's pleading look, Remus retorted with a look of his own, the sort that pointedly said don't-think-I-don't-know-what-you're-trying-to-do, and continued to walk.

"It's not as if this situation is _really_ our fault anyways." James added, grinning charmingly at his friend. Remus wasn't sure if it was Sirius who had rubbed off on James, or James who had influenced Sirius, but, whichever the case, the two had both perfected the sort of apologetic, 'sincere' grins that seemed to disperse repercussions like a charm banishes water.

Remus, however, was present during the developing stages and therefore hopelessly immune. "I could have befriended normal people who do normal things, but do I? _No-oo_. I decide it would be lovely to go and make friends with a dip and a dog." Remus muttered as if talking to himself, but clearly loud enough for them to hear.

"I heard that." Sirius said, with the retort that had been doing wonders since he was eight years old.

"Shocking, as I said it rather loud." Remus replied. Despite his self-imposed frown, Remus was hardly still annoyed, and James's unrestrained laughter broke him. Remus began laughing with James, while Sirius pouted in mock offense.

"Do you think we should wait for him?" James asked, looking at his friends.

"Oi, Peter!" Sirius hollered back. He was the loudest of the bunch without even trying, and often liked to use this 'talent' without warning, as it often provoked rather entertaining results. Used to it by now, neither James nor Remus winced, though they did offer Sirius weak glowers for shouting without warning into their ears. "Would you like us to wait for you?"

Peter waved his wrist carelessly in a motion that seemed to say "no, no, I'm doing well, but thank you". "S'all right!" came his muffled reply. Hands in his pockets, he was walking with his face up, soaking up the warm sun.

"Says he's fine," Sirius informed his friends, looking back at them.

They shrugged in agreement. "It's never ceased to amaze me how well he gets on just by himself. Merlin knows I can't entertain myself for more than five minutes," James mused to the two.

Sirius and Remus exchanged evil smiles. "Oh, I don't know," said Remus. "I've always rather enjoyed your ability to appreciate the simple pleasures in life. Haven't you, Paddy?"

"Why certainly." Sirius concurred. "All you have to do is think Lily, and I do believe you're entertained all day."

James rolled his eyes at the two, and continued to walk. Perhaps Wormtail was onto something, spending time by himself. James vowed to try it sometime.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Keep it up.

xoxo


	6. Of Dates and Drunken Teens

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter Six – Of Dates and Drunken Teens~

"_Fighting is essentially a masculine idea; a woman's weapon is her tongue.__"__Hermione Gingold_

Over the next three months, the situation in the household did little to change. James Potter continued to ask out his 'Lily-flower' Lily Evans and she continued to reject him waspishly, Sirius Black and Arabella Figg engaged in frequent fights concerning nearly every topic imaginable, Erica and Brenna continued to laugh at the antics of the pairs, Remus tried very hard to toe the line between both groups, and Peter stuck by his strict code of minding his own business, as it had served him very well over the past six years.

_FLASHBACK_

"Hey AJ." Hunter greeted Arabella as she walked to Mr. Gellar's room for a cross-country meeting.

"Hey." She replied as she sat down in front of him on a desk. "Are you excited were going to finals?" She asked, smiling down at him.

"Yeah," He said flashing her a smile. He started shifting uncomfortably as Lily walked over. "Hey Lily."

"Hi Lils." Arabella said, hugging her friend. "We're going to finals, were going to finals." Arabella got up and jumped around Lily. Lily laughed at her friend then joined in.

"We're going to finals! We're going to finals!" They chanted as they hopped around in circles. Hunter laughed at them with a few of his friends.

"Did you do it yet?" Lee Thomas leaned over and asked his friend. Hunter looked up at him and shook his head.

"Well why not?" Daniel asked. "You've been friends with her for _months_."

"Well not really _friends_, more like a _benefit_." Lee said. He and Daniel laughed and Hunter glared at the two of them but before he could do more his friends were shoving him of his stool towards Arabella.

He looked at Lee and Daniel and they motioned for him to go. He walked slowly towards where Arabella and Lily were hopping in circles. "Um…" He began shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. Arabella and Lily stopped hopping around in circles and looked at him. "Can I talk to you AJ? _Alone_." He added, looking at Lily.

"Al right, all right. Calm down Sparky." She said, going over to join Lee and Daniel.

Arabella looked at Hunter as he led her over to a corner. "What do you want to talk to me about?" She asked, leaning casually against the wall.

"Well," He began, still looking uncomfortable, "doyouwannagotoamoviewithme tommowrrownight?"

She looked at him quizzically, "What?"

"?"

"I'm sorry, I have _no_ idea what you just said."

"Do you want to go with me to a movie tomorrow night?" He finally got out. Arabella glanced at him. He looked nervous and insecure.

"A movie? Sure, that sounds great!" Arabella responded quickly, flashing him a happy smile. Hunter smiled immediately and gave her a hug. She slipped her hand into his as they walked back to their friends.

When they arrived Lily was grinning from ear to ear and she was leaning on Lee, who was also grinning like a madman.

"And what happened over here?" Arabella asked, looking at her glowing friend.

"Lee invited me to a movie tomorrow!" Lily replied, kissing Lee on the cheek.

"Oh really?" Arabella asked, "Me too! I mean, Hunter, not Lee." They both laughed. Then Lily got off and started chanting, "We're going to the movies. We're going to the movies. We're going to the movies." Arabella laughed at her and started dancing in circles and chanting too.

Daniel looked over at his friends. "Great, what am I supposed to do now?" He asked shaking his head.

"You could always ask out um, what's her face. She has shoulder length black hair, gold eyes." Lee offered.

"Oh yeah, ummm, Erica?" Daniel said. He smiled – she was pretty enough.

"We'll there you go." Hunter said absent-mindedly smiling at Arabella.

Then, Mr. Gellar walked in. "Settle down, girls, settle down." He said with a half smile on his face.

_END FLASHBACK_

Arabella realized she had stopped walking in the middle of the staircase. She rubbed her arms and continued down the massive staircase. She wandered through the hallway and walked into the kitchen. There she saw a pair of red plaid boxer shorts sticking out from behind the fridge door. She backed up slowly, wondering – and dreading – which one it could be. Though she hardly wanted to walk into any room occupied by Sirius Black, her chances were one in four and her stomach was growling, obnoxious beast it was. _'It's most likely Peter.'_ She thought, straightening her shoulders as she walked into the kitchen and came face to face with none other than Sirius Black.

He stiffened – he hadn't heard her coming this time. "What are you doing here?" He asked her carrying a bag of squaw bread to the island counter.

"I'm just here for a little midnight snack." She replied. Sirius nodded his head in acceptance of her explanation, though, having been here every night before, albeit in canine form, he wasn't especially surprised by her appearance.

Arabella, on the other hand, look quite surprised. She took a seat on the other side of the island. "What are you having?" She asked tentatively, after a moment, eyeing the squaw bread. She was really _quite_ hungry.

Sirius flashed a charming smile at her. If there was one good thing about listening to the midnight soliloquies of the girl he so despised, it was that he had discovered her recipe for the most delicious sandwich in the world. Unwilling to pay such high compliments aloud to the girl, he simply said, "I'm just having a sandwich. Squaw bread, ham, Swiss cheese, lettuce, and, God's gift to sandwich gurus, mayo." He grinned at her again as her stomach growled.

She looked at him quizzically and, perhaps, slightly suspiciously – this was Sirius Black, after all. "That's my favorite." She said slowly. She shook her head, apparently ridding it of her suspicions, and then looked at him, looking almost, one could think, amused. "Sandwich guru are you?"

Sirius grinned at her again. "Would you like some?" He asked aloud, followed immediately by internal dialogue along the lines of, _'Why the fuck am I being so nice?'_ The night did crazy things to people.

"Sure." She replied as he grabbed another plate, "do you have a midnight snack a lot?" she asked, sounding surprisingly shy. Of course, any tone outside of the species _belligerent_ sounded surprising coming from her lips.

Sirius looked at her. Moonlight was flooding in from the window, making her almost glow, and her hair seemed to move about with an invisible wind. Removed from her general hostility and unsure of herself, Arabella Figg looked almost cute. Likeable, even. Sirius Black began to mentally kick himself again. '_What the Fuck did I just think? Arabella Figg is never cute.'_ It was the night, it really did make people go odd. "Um, yeah," he replied, belatedly, to her question. _And I'm never able to make food before you get down here_, he silently added.

"Oh," She said, taking a small bite out of the sandwich he gave her. Then she looked at him and, once again, she looked unsure. What the hell was up with that lack of confidence? It was almost endearing – if endearing meant _bloody off-putting_. "Sirius," she said in a questioning voice, pausing for a second.

Sirius felt himself stiffen. He couldn't remember her ever saying his first name before, and there was just something about the way he said it. Something _off-putting_, he corrected himself. "Yes?" he replied, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Do you see a big black dog down here? I mean, when you come. At night."

'_Well, the kitchen wasn't exactly lined with bleeding mirrors, was it?'_ "No, why?" He asked, watching her eat her sandwich.

"Oh. No reason, I was just wondering." She replied as she finished off her sandwich quickly. "Thanks for the food, Sirius." She said even more quickly, offering him a quick, polite smile. She was about to go when a blonde girl from school – Jamie, possibly? – entered the kitchen, wearing a very large shirt that looked suspiciously like it belonged to Sirius.

"Hey Sirius," Jamie (it was definitely Jamie) said, walking up and kissing him, "What are you doing? I missed you."

"Oh," he said looking uncomfortable, "I was just having a midnight snack with Figg, here. Do you know her?" He asked, looking from the small blonde, to the fierce belle.

"Oh yeah," Arabella said, sticking her hand out, "We have geography together. Second period, Mrs. A."

Jamie grinned as she shook Arabella's hand. "Most boring class in the world." Arabella grinned slightly and made a forced laugh of agreement.

Then she turned to Sirius, "I think I'm going to go to bed. Good night, Jamie!" She said to the other girl, still 'smiling'. Then she left shoving past Sirius. As she left she hissed into his ear, "And you said _I'm_ a slut," before walking quickly out of the room.

_'She still mad about that?'_ Sirius wondered, letting Jamie lead him up the stairs. _'That was months ago!'_ He sighed and followed Jamie the rest of the way.

* * *

"I cannot believe you're leaving me, _here_, all alone, with the Marauders!" Brenna exclaimed as she watched her friends get ready for their dates.

"You won't be all alone, the marauders will be here." Lily told her friend as she compared earrings.

"The one with all the dangles are better. But I need _intelligent_ company." Brenna complained as she did Arabella's makeup. "AJ, why can't you do your own makeup?"

"I don't wear much. Anyways, you'll be fine."

"Close your eyes, AJ. I don't think so. It's going to be absolutely awful."

"Speaking of which, why don't they have plans?" Erica wondered, comparing skirts, "Should I go for short or tight?" The other girls looked at her.

"I think short looks better. But considering I'm not going…" Brenna replied.

"Oh Brenna, stop it already." Erica said, slipping on her skirt and adding the final touch to her hair. "You'll be fine. You'll play poker or something. Trust me Brenna, nothing's gonna happen."

"You don't even have to hang out with them. You could read a book," Lily suggested helpfully.

Brenna's annoyed look at Lily was cut short by a sudden knock on the door. "Bye Brenna." Arabella said kissing her friend on the cheek.

"See ya later."

"Buh-bye!"

"I hate you all!"

"Bye!"

They raced down the hallway. Then they stopped at the top of the stairs.

* * *

There was a knock on the door. Sirius looked up from his hand of Poker. "That would be the dates." He said, laying down his hand and gathering all the chips.

James shook his head at Sirius, as there was another knock on the door. "How do you always do that?" He asked glumly, without really expecting an answer. Though none of the other marauders addressed it, they all knew that his gloom was less the result of a losing hand and more the result of one Miss Lily Evan's James-less social life. Though, it could be supposed, that that counted as a losing hand too. There was a final knock on the door.

"We better go get that," Peter said without looking up from counting his few chips.

"I'll get it." Remus said. He got up and went out the door. Then he slowly backed up. "Prooooongs."

"Yes?"

"Put my chips back." James looked around sheepishly. Then he, Sirius, and Peter, went with Remus to open the door.

Remus yanked open the door and let Daniel, Hunter, and Lee in. "They should be down in a moment," he said.

"That's good." Daniel said, looking up at the ceiling.

"You know how long it takes women to get ready." James put in, trying to break the silence, though, glaring at Lee, his mind was really on breaking _other_ things.

"Don't we know it." Hunter said with a laugh.

"It makes you wonder what they do, yeah?" Lee said laughing.

"And why do they have to go to the bathroom in pairs?" Sirius asked. "How hard is it to get up and walk to the bathroom by yourself?"

"They do that to gossip you know." Remus said. "Things like, Oh my god, I hate my date. Or, like, how far can I go with him, like, on a first date, like, without being considered, like, a slut."

"Then there will absolutely be no bathroom visits on this date." Lee informed the other boys. They all started to crack up, except for James, who sincerely hoped that Erica and Arabella dragged Lily into the w.c. and convinced her to join a convent. Or, better yet, leave this Lee prat and marry James.

* * *

"Uh-oh." Arabella whispered from the top of the stairs. She looked genuinely concerned.

"They're laughing. This cannot be good." Erica said, observing their situation.

Without further ado, the girls rushed down the stairs and into the hall where their dates were conversing with their enemies. Though never a good thing, laughter boded especially ill.

"Wow, you look amazing." Hunter exclaimed, seeing Arabella. She had her hair slightly wavy and let loose. She wore a white 'lingerie inspired' tank top with a mid-thigh flowing skirt that was very colorful without any of the unfashionable "groovitude" of the hippie movement, and a pair of red pumps. Sirius agreed that she looked very good, and then had to willfully restrain from beating his own head. Arabella Figg, he reminded himself, is not hot. Not hot, never hot. Bitchy perhaps, but _not_ hot.

Lee turned all his attention to Lily. "Lily, you're a knockout." Lily grinned and spun slowly in a circle in front of him. She had her amber hair pulled up into a sloppy bun and wore a white double V-neck (front and back) sweater with a short blue jean skirt and black heels. "Thank you, Lee."

Erica walked up to Daniel as he looked at her with a goofy grin on his face. "Wow. Just…wow." He complimented her, handing her a rose. Her hair was loosely pulled up at the sides and she wore a very short black mini skirt and a cute pink layered top. "Thank you Danny." She said giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Well," Hunter said, after the guys finished babbling about how wonderful all of the girls looked. "Shall we go?"

"Sure," Arabella replied kissing him. "Just one more thing." She walked up to Remus and Lily and Erica followed her.

"Remy, can we talk to you?" Arabella asked sweetly, grabbing him and dragging him to the far corner of the room. Hunter looked questioningly at Sirius, who just shrugged. The git could wait five more minutes before snogging Arabella.

"We need a favor." Arabella began, whispering fervently.

"What?" He asked, looking at the girls surrounding him questioningly, and, if he were fully honest, slightly apprehensively.

"Can you watch Brenna? Please?" Erica asked, looking up at Remus pleadingly.

Remus shook his head and his sandy blonde hair bounced. "What! Why me?" He asked trying to back up and running into a wall.

"Because, she didn't have a date tonight and she is slightly, er, very, mad at us. It would really be helpful. Thanks Remus." Lily said pecking him on the cheek.

"Remy, you're the best." Erica said, leaving another lip-gloss stain on his cheek. Then they all left leaving Remus stunned.

"Should we go now?" Arabella asked, hooking on to Hunter's arm. He grinned at her and kissed the top of her head.

"Right this way ladies." He said, opening the door and escorting everybody to the car.

"Bye."

Sirius shut the door. He looked at Remus and grinned. Then he waltzed over to where Remus was standing. He looked at Remus's cheek.

"Dark red, probably Erica. Clear, slightly pink, Lily right? So that would leave the not quite hot pink stain as Figg. Remus, my dear, _dear_, friend, why do you have three glossy lip prints on your cheek, hmmm? Could you have been doing some big pimpin'?" Sirius asked looking at his friend with a huge grin on his face.

"What happened?" James asked from his position above them on the railing. "When people talk quietly in a corner it's harder for us to hear, you know?" James jumped down and sauntered over to where Sirius was standing, where he too inspected the glossy marks on Remus's cheek. Lily's lips had left such a beautiful, perfect mark on Remus that James suddenly felt very inclined to murder Remus in a slow and very painful manner.

"Well," Remus began, but, before he could finish or James could pummel him to a bloody pulp, there was a resounding crash in the kitchen. The boys rushed into the room to find Peter, covered in strawberry jam. When they entered Peter looked up at them sheepishly and forced a little grin on to his face. "I was trying to make toast." He explained, licking the jelly off his fingers.

Sirius frowned at his friend and looked down at his watch. "At 9:00 at night?" He asked, wrinkling his nose. He sat down next to his jam-coated friend and motioned for him to come close. He put his arm on Peter's shoulder and quickly withdrew it, wiping off the strawberry preserves. "I think it's time we sort out your eating habits, Wormtail." He said while they all sat staring disgustedly at their friend. Sirius was going to say more but Brenna burst into the room.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at Peter.

"He was making…" Sirius began.

"Ummm…Brenna your shirt." Remus cut in, motioning buttoning.

"Toast." Sirius finished.

"Oh right. Thanks." She said to Remus, finishing buttoning up her shirt. "At 9:00 at night?" She asked, turning her attention to Sirius and Peter.

"Exactly what I said!" Sirius turned to her grinning.

"Beer?" James asked, handing Brenna a bottle. Then he turned to Peter. "For Christ's sake Peter, go wash off!"

"Thanks." Brenna said, motioning to James. Then she turned to address the entire group. "Have they left yet?" She asked glaring at everyone.

The boys looked down at their feet. "Yeah." Remus said quietly.

"Well good riddance." She said, finishing off her beer with a swig and grabbing another. "Well, let's have a good time!" Brenna said grabbing two more beers and marching up the stairs. Sirius and James looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Then they followed her, grabbing a six-pack each. Remus just looked at the messy kitchen and sighed.

_A guy covered in jam, _he thought,_ a drunken, enraged girl, and two blokes who liked both girl and drinking to an unhealthy extent watching after her. _"This is going to be one long night," Remus said morosely to the empty kitchen.

* * *

"Hey guys," Erica said, addressing their dates, "We're going to the loo, but we'll be right back." They guys nodded, holding back both laughs and groans as they thought about their conversation with the Marauders.

Erica turned and followed her friends to the bathroom, jogging slightly to catch up. Arabella leaned over to Lily while they were standing in front of the mirrors. "What exactly _is_ a movie?" She asked, reapplying her lipstick.

"Yeah, I was wondering myself." Erica said walking up, "Oi, Arabella!" She said, stealing her friend's gloss. "Don't put that on. We love the look, but it's bad for kissing."

Arabella glared at her friend and tried to snatch it back. "You need to stop sounding like a column out of a fashion magazine. Besides," she made another move to grab the gloss, but Erica evaded her, "what if I wasn't planning on kissing him. It's our first date, for heaven's sake." Erica eyed her with an amused expression, still holding the gloss, and Lily looked up from her reflection.

"Oh please," Lily said with a sardonic tone. "You've been snogging him all over the school every since you met him!"

Arabella looked taken aback. "I have _not_!" She said indignantly.

"Oh you so have," Erica countered, "I've seen it!"

"But _all _over school is such an exaggeration," She whined. "_Anyways_, Lily, what exactly is a movie?"

Lily looked at her friend with a raised brow. "Fine, change the subject if you really want to. A movie is like a play, but it's not live. It's hard to describe but it's the _best_ muggle invention!"

"Mints anyone?" Erica asked. She took a small container rattling with mints out of her purse and opened it. Each of the girls took one. "Its makes your breath good when you kiss." She whispered to Arabella.

"Erica!" Arabella said loudly, stamping her foot.

"What?" She asked, as if she didn't know. She shook her head at Arabella's fury causing her raven hair to shake.

"Let it go!" Lily told them. "AJ you really should see someone about your temper." It was hard to listen to Lily's wisdom when she looked like she was about to die from holding her laughter in.

"Oh, shut up!" Arabella muttered as she left the bathroom.

Lily and Erica looked at each other and then ran after their friend. There was snogging to be done, after all.

* * *

"What game should we play?" Brenna asked, flopping onto Sirius's bed.

"Strip something." Sirius said, sitting down next to her.

Brenna looked at Sirius and laughed. "I'm not that wasted yet Black." She replied, purposely leaning over him to grab another beer. "How about rummy?"

"Sounds good to me." Remus said shuffling the cards.

"Alright. I'm gonna order a pizza." James said, picking up the phone and pressing speed dial 6.

"You know the number?" Brenna asked, laughing.

James grinned at her. "No baby, it's on speed dial." Brenna looked at him and laughed.

"It's on speed dial? You guys are such pigs." She told them gathering up her hand.

"Oh pigs, is that what we are?" Sirius asked, tickling her.

She started cracking up and rolling away. Sirius put their beer bottles on the messy floor. Then he continued tickling her. "Stop! Stop!" She panted between laughs. He sat on her stomach and proceeded to tickle her. He leaning low over her and a necklace fell out of his shirt and dangled in her face.

"What's that?" She asked, wiggling till she got one hand free and grabbed it. It was a small silver pendant, of what looked like feathered angel wings, dangling on a pretty silver chain.

"Family heirloom," He said quickly, tucking it back into his shirt and pulling away slightly.

"Yo," James said loudly. Brenna and Sirius turned to stare at him. "Are we gonna play cards or are we gonna sit here all night, watching you two flirt?"

"We weren't flirting." Brenna said, pushing Sirius off of her and grabbing her hand again. She took her beer off the floor and took a couple of swigs. When she was done she tossed it aside and grabbed another.

"Whatever you say," Remus said with what was almost a sigh, drawing a card and laying down four twos. Then he discarded his queen and motioned for James to go. "Brenna, how many beers have you had?"

"I don't know. Stop nagging me Remus, I don't need people to look after me." She said, grabbing the ace James had just discarded.

"Yeah Moony. Leave her alone." Sirius snapped at his friend surprising himself, James, and Remus.

"Alright, alright, don't get so protective." Remus snapped back. "Rummy!" He said, grabbing a seven off the pile.

"Damn! I didn't see that." Sirius cursed, shaking his head. James leaned over to Remus and whispered so only Remus could hear, "Well he would of if his eyes were on the game and not on a certain blonde's rack." Remus muffled his laugh and looked back at the game.

"It's okay Sirius. It happens to the best of us." Brenna said, starting to slightly slur her words together. She laughed happily for no reason. Then she drew a card and put down three aces. "Fourteen each." She said, looking in Sirius's direction.

"Lucky I have one then." He replied, putting down his ace and discarding a four. Brenna grinned and leaned on him.

* * *

After four more very long games of Rummy and four beer bottles later Brenna was officially drunk and giddy. Sirius wasn't that much better off, getting a little bit tipsy. Remus and James just stared at them and rolled their eyes.

"Let's play something else." Brenna said, throwing down her hand.

"Now, can we play strip something?" Sirius asked, grabbing another beer and taking a swig.

"How about not." James said, giving his friend an irritated look.

"But why?" Sirius asked, looking at his friend.

"Because I don't want to be stripping down right now." Remus cut in. He was trying to count how many bottles of beer Sirius and Brenna had drunk between them.

"Don't be such a spoil sport Moony." Sirius said, looking at his friend and shaking his head. He turned to Brenna who was sitting on the bed. "Pleeeeaaaase." He asked, giving her his best puppy-dog face.

Brenna looked down at him from her perch on his bed. "No." She said, sounding as articulate as a drunken person can get. "I don't want to strip. I'm not really wearing that much right now and I would be naked in no time."

"That's the basis of its appeal." Sirius told her. She gave him another sharp look.

"Okayyy," Sirius said sadly. "Let's play Bullshit then."

"Fantastic," she replied, "Let me go get something." She said, getting up and leaving the room.

Sirius watched her go. Then he turned to James and Remus who were rolling their eyes at each other. "Isn't she great?" He asked. "Wow. I guess I just never realized it, yelling at Figg so much and not even noticing her posse."

James rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't know. Right now she seems like a drunken mess. But you know, whatever you dig mate."

"Hey, hey, hey." Sirius replied, "I like _her_, not her drunken rambling. Okay?"

"You actually like this one?" Remus asked, with a shocked look on his face.

Sirius glared at him.

"Sorry," Remus said, holding up his hands as a form of surrender.

"It's just that you've never liked a girl in your entire life. You just use the ones that like you." James informed his friend.

"Oh you're one to talk, Prongs!" Sirius replied. James looked guilty (though it wasn't _really_ his fault – all his love was devoted to Lily, but, while she was off in attainable land, he needed _something_ to take his mind off her). Sirius smiled. "I do think I actually like her though. Her hair is so pretty – it's curly and blonde and –"

"Well if you do, and I'm not questioning what you said," Remus said quickly in defense as he saw the look on Sirius's face. "You had better talk to AJ first." He advised.

"Yeah, she could kick your ass." James added. He laughed at the idea and Sirius sulked at his friend. "Oh, shut up, you," he muttered good-naturedly.

Sirius turned to look at Remus. "How long has Peter been in the shower?" He asked his friend, tilting his head.

Remus opened his mouth to answer as Peter walked into the room. He looked at his friends. "The jelly took forever to wash off. Did you know it was sticky?" He asked them, as he buttoned his pajamas.

"You don't say." James replied, rolling his eyes. All of the sudden there was a very audible thump on the stairs. Sirius jumped up and ran down the hallway, followed by James, Remus, and Peter who was trying to get his shorts on and run down the hallway. Not an easy task for anyone, especially someone of so little coordination.

They arrived at the staircase to see Brenna lying on her butt, with Advil in her hand.

"I'll take her to her room." Sirius volunteered. He scooped her up in his muscled arms. She leaned into him and snuggled against his shoulder. "I've never seen Sirius act so…" James commented.

"Sweet?" Remus offered, "Well, I mean, as sweet as he gets…"

"Yes!" James said as Peter arrived with his pants fully up. "It's probably the beers." James continued.

"No, he's not even drunk yet." Remus commented.

"Oh well. I don't think they're coming back any time soon. Is anybody up for a couple of beers?" James asked.

"If there are any left." Remus commented, laughing as they made their way down the stairs. Peter, having missed the excessive consumption, looked confused as to why they were laughing, but grinned all the same.

* * *

Hunter pulled up to the Gryffindor Manor. As he started to get out, Arabella motioned for him to get back in. "Everybody is probably asleep and I want to get in as quietly as possible." She told him in explanation.

"Okay," he said looking slightly disappointed, "Kiss then," he said turning his cheek. She grinned at him and moved his head. Then she kissed him on the lips. 'Call me' she motioned with her hands as she slid out of the car.

Lily got out of the car after giving Lee a quick peck. "Call me?" She asked him.

"Of course." He said, nodding his head.

Daniel kissed Erica, for a bit longer than she would have really liked. Then he watched her slide out of the car. "I'll call you," he told her.

"Alright." She shrugged, but grinned nonetheless, and walked up to the door of the house. The girls waved as the guys drove off.

"That was fun." Arabella said as she opened the door just big enough for them to slip through. She was surprised to see Peter, Remus, and James, sitting on the staircase drinking. Remus grinned at them and lifted up his bottle. "How was it?" He asked.

"Oh, it was really fun." Erica said, sitting down next to them and taking a sip of James' beer. He looked at her and snatched it away.

"All right, all right." She said, shaking her head at him. "I thought it was only Lily you were so possessive of."

"Oh hush," James said, but he did not deny it. "There wasn't snogging, was there?" He asked worriedly, eyes wide with dread.

"I was a bit too busy snogging to notice if anyone else was," Erica admitted, patting him reassuringly on the arm.

"How's Brenna?" Lily asked, blatantly ignoring their conversation, but also taking a sip of James's beer.

"What about Remus's?" he asked them shaking his head, and holding his bottle to his chest with both hands.

"She's smashed. Totally wasted." Remus informed them.

"What? Remus I thought we asked you to watch her." Arabella said angrily, starting to get slightly mad.

"Oh, that's what they said!" James said, grinning. "Don't worry AJ, Brenna is fine. She just had a little too much to drink. We played some card-games. That's it. She's fine." James assured them snatching his beer from Lily, who had somehow wrangled it from James's grasp; if she put her mind to it – or, honestly, even gave it minimal attention – she could get that boy to do anything.

"Where is she now?" Erica asked, looking at Remus.

"We were about to play Bullshit and she went to get some Advil. As she was walking she just randomly fell." Remus told them. "You know, drunk people…"

"So Sirius took her to her room," Peter added.

"Speaking of which, he should be back by now." James continued, looking at his watch.

Arabella looked at all three of the guys. "What! You left them _alone_? He could be killing her, or something."

"Don't worry." Remus consoled her, "He was pretty tipsy himself. Not smashed yet, it takes a _lot_ to get him wasted, but he's still tipsy. He probably fell asleep on the floor."

"Besides, it's you he hates. Brenna, on the other hand? Safe from his more murderous inclinations," James said, laughing. Arabella smacked him upside the head.

"James, however, gets wasted pretty easily." Remus said, observing his friend. The girls laughed and sat down on the staircase. James was now staring down at Lily's cleavage which was fully visible to him, sitting on a higher step.

Peter and Remus were snickering and trying as hard as they could not to burst into outright laughter. Lily followed their gaze to James and realized what was happening. She slowly lifted up her hand and flipped James off. He shook his head and grinned at her face. "Sorry my Lily-flower," he said sheepishly, kissing her hand. She yanked it away with pursed lips but didn't chastise him, which was really a big step forward in their relationship.

"You sleep with a million girls and you still feel the need to stare at my boobs." She muttered. "Honestly."

"Unless it's not true." Arabella said slyly, looking up at James.

"Hey, I may be easily seduced but that does not mean I haven't slept with almost every girl at Hogwarts." He replied, put out by their assumption. They started laughing at him. "Lily just had a really nice rack," he added. Lily blushed, making them all laugh harder.

When the laughter died down Erica stood up, stretching. "Well, we had better go check on Brenna and make sure she's okay. Bacchus Maneuver anyone?"

Arabella and Lily stood up to follow her. "And you guys should come too, incase you have to remove a sleeping Black from our floor." Arabella said motioning for them to follow. Remus and Peter half pushed half dragged James up the stairs.

"Prongs, you're too fat." Peter told his friend, huffing.

"Oh you're one to talk Wormtail." Remus replied, dragging James up the remaining two steps.

Peter frowned and followed the girls to their room. Arabella stopped in the doorway causing everyone to bump against her. Nobody talked, nobody moved. Arabella let her mouth drop at what she saw.

Brenna's long blonde hair had completely fallen out of the ponytail. Her blue-striped shirt had become mostly unbuttoned again. She was holding Sirius against the wall by his wrists. His hair was also out of a ponytail and he was not wearing a shirt (it was hanging from a dresser). They were having a total snog-fest.

Everyone just stared at them for a minute or two. "Whoa," James said as he backed out of the room, followed by Lily, Remus, Erica, and Peter, "It really was _or something_." Arabella watched Brenna and Sirius for a minute. She was beginning to get very mad. Arabella strode into the room and tore Sirius away from Brenna's lips. Lily rushed into the room and grabbed Brenna. She led her out and slowly shut the door behind her.

"James, Remus, you need to get in there now!" Lily told them. Erica pushed them through the door and closed it again.

"What about me?" Peter asked. Lily shook her head. "Help us." Erica told him. They tried to lead Brenna into the guest room. Then they put her in bed and she fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

"Peter, stay here with her. If you need something come get us. We have to stop Arabella. I don't think homicide was one of Dumbledore's goals for this project." Lily told him, pushing him into a chair.

"But I wanna come." Peter complained standing up.

"No!" Erica snapped shutting the door.

They ran down the hallway and opened the door to their room. James was holding Arabella back. She was fighting furiously to get free. Her lip was slightly bleeding and her skirt was twisted. Across the room Remus was holding Sirius back. He was fighting very hard. Sirius's left eye was beginning to swell and his pants were sagging even more. Arabella kicked off her hells (in Sirius's direction) and screamed at him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER YOU FILTHY SCUM?"

"NOTHING! INCASE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE, SHE WAS KISSING ME!"

Sirius fought loose from Remus and Arabella kicked James in the family jewels. When he let go she ran at Sirius. Erica ran to James and Lily went to Remus. When Sirius and Arabella collided they went through the door way and down the hall. Lily and Erica yanked up the fallen James and Remus and ran down the hall to follow them. Arabella was standing over Sirius, halfway down the staircase. When they arrived she punched his lip. Her ring punctured it, and it started to bleed. He growled at her and grabbed her legs. The force of this caused her to fall on him, and they went rolling down the last few stairs. When they reached the bottom Sirius was on top of her. Before he could do anything, James and Lily were pulling him off of her. Erica and Remus quickly restrained Arabella. Arabella stared fiercely at Sirius and he stared right back. Finally she shook off Erica and Remus and just stood there glaring at him.

"I hate you!" She fin ally muttered, walking up the staircase. Lily and James let go of Sirius.

"Same goes for you." He muttered following her up the stairs and turning left where the stairs divided.

James, Erica, Remus, and Lily just stood there looking up after them. Remus whistled.

"Wow." James muttered.

"I know." Lily replied.

"This is bad," Erica said, turning to look at them, "It used to be just loud and noisy arguments. It never got physical, never."

"We need to do something." Lily muttered, bending down to look at a drop of blood on the ground.

"Just keep him away from her. She needs a couple days." Remus suggested.

"Like that'll be easy." James replied looking up the staircase.

* * *

**Special Thanks to:**

**Sydney F. Rotten**- Thanks for the review! I really appreciated it. I'm so glad you like my story! Please review again. Thanks again!

**BabyBarny**-You think I'm the best? Oh, you're awfully sweet. Thank you so much. And the towel thing? Wouldn't that be awful if that actually happened? I think I might die of embarrassment. It's very cool that you live in Britain. I'm absolutely dying to move there and I'm planning on attending college over there. Anyways, thanks for your review!

**Faith-Wolff**- Thanks! I wasn't really sure on the humor part and it's great to hear that at least one person thinks it's funny. I'll check out your fic as soon as I get the chance! (Not tonight, I should've been in bed hours ago!) Thanks for your review!

**Cine (loves Sirius)**- Love the name; honestly, who could not love Sirius? Sorry, I didn't get your review until after I typed the chapter so I didn't get the chance with the hyphen thing. Do you mean between paragraphs or between segments, I'm not sure? Thanks so much for your review.

**namigirl4**- Yeah, I thought it would be too. It's really fun to write too, and my fingers sometimes carry me away (this chapter for instance). Thanks for reviewing and please keep doing so!

**oOoLintuoOo**- Thanks for reviewing again. My profile didn't talk about Remus because I love pairing him with an OC. If you really want to know who he ends up with go to Falling by **Bella Black**. It's in my favorites. I borrowed one of the girls from there. Don't worry about Brenna/Sirius. It'll all work out in the end. I'll have a look at your stories as soon as I get the time. I can't wait to have a look! Thanks for your review!


	7. A Long Weekend

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 7 – A Long Weekend~

"_Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with, that it's a compounding felony." ~ Robert Benchley_

Arabella woke up and rolled over. She looked at her alarm clock. Six O'clock? Bloody fucking hell. She slowly got out of bed and walked over to the mirror to look at herself. She had huge bags under her eyes and a purple bruise along her right cheekbone. She looked at her lip. "Ouch!" she whispered to herself, not wanting her friend to wake. Her bottom lip had been split right down the middle.

Slowly, she limped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She closed the door and stripped down. Then she stepped into the steamy jet of water. _This_ felt good. She looked at a massive bruise on her hipbone. That's the last time I roll down the staircase with Sirius Black, she mentally vowed, with a distinct tinge of bitterness. After about an hour she got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her aching body and another in her hair. She crept through her room as silently as possible and creaked open the door, walking down the hallway to one of the other bedrooms.

She saw Peter, snoring loudly, on a leather armchair and Brenna asleep on the bed. She smiled slightly, glad her friend looked so peaceful, and shut the door once again. Then she made her way down the staircase and into the kitchen.

"Good morning," Remus said to her. He was sitting on an island chair, having a delicious smelling breakfast of toast and bacon.

"Hi." She replied suddenly realizing she was still in a towel.

"You're up early." Remus commented, taking a strip of bacon.

"You are too." She replied. He grinned at her.

"Do you want some toast?" He offered her.

"Sure." Arabella replied. He nodded and turned around towards the toaster. When he turned she saw a very large bruise along his shoulders.

"Oh my God! What happened?" She asked him, eyeing his purplish skin. He glanced over his shoulder at her and grinned.

"Remember when you and Sirius were fighting last night?" He asked.

"Yes." She replied testily. She was still angry. Honestly, when was she _not_ angry with Sirius Black?

Remus grinned at her and ate another strip of bacon. "Well before you and Sirius rolled down the staircase, I was holding Sirius in your room. You know, trying to prevent a double-homicide. It's my prefect duties, they're still in heart." He patted his chest where his heart should be and Arabella laughed, "When he shook loose, he sort of…threw me into the wall."

Arabella sat there, shifting uncomfortably. Then she got up and hugged Remus. "I'm sorry Remy." She said as she got up and hugged him. "Thanks for the toast." Then she left the room to go get dressed.

"No problem." He replied, though she was already gone. He rubbed his arms. "A bit painful really. If she's that strong I would hate to be punched by her." He laughed as he put their plates in the sink. "Ah, Sirius, you poor bastard."

* * *

Sirius rolled over and looked into two hazel eyes and two golden eyes. "Aaaaahhhh!" He yelled rolling over and off his bed. He sat up and looked over. "Don't _do_ that." He told his roommates, frowning at them.

"Sorry mate." James said, pulling Sirius up. "Do you remember anything that happened last night?"

Sirius sat on his bed thinking for a moment. "Let's see," he began, "Last night we played Poker and I won, of course. Then we got some beers and Brenna played Rummy with us. Then for some reason Figg was trying to kill me. No surprise there though, really."

"She made pretty good work of you," James said, examining Sirius, "girl beat you pretty bad, yeah?" Sirius, not one to take such attestations lightly, jumped on him and they had a little scuffle on the floor. Remus sighed and looked at his watch. After a couple of minutes, Sirius and James had called a truce.

"Is there anything else? Anything at all?" Remus asked looking at his friend.

"No. Why?" Sirius asked. He narrowed his eyes. Remus sighed and got up to look for a shirt to put on.

"Wow, Moony. What happened? Did Figg get you too?" Sirius asked, examining the bruise on his back, "She's evil that one, I tell you."

Remus turned around and laughed. "No, Padfoot, you got me." He slipped the green shirt he had found over his head. "I was restraining you and James was holding AJ. To get to her, you threw me, the sanest friend you've ever had, against the wall."

"Wow," Sirius said, "I'm that strong?" Remus laughed, and then shoved Sirius off the bed. Sirius crawled back up. "What I meant to say was sorry, old mate. _Awfully_ sorry." Remus rolled his eyes, not buying it for a minute.

Lily and Erica opened the bedroom door and walked into the room. "Does he remember anything?" Lily asked James. James shook his head, but grinned nonetheless. Remus, James, and the girls left the room to get out of Sirius's earshot.

"Are you sure he doesn't?" Erica asked.

"Positive," Remus replied.

"Don't talk about me while I'm here!" Sirius yelled at them through the door.

"You're not supposed to listen!" James yelled back.

"Does she remember anything?" Remus asked.

"I dunno. She still asleep." Erica replied.

"Well? Are you going to tell him?" Lily asked.

"TELL ME WHAT? AND DON'T TALK ABOUT ME!" Sirius yelled through the door again.

James shook his head. "I suppose we really _ought_ to tell him."

"I think so." Lily agreed. Lily and Erica walked away (which James watched with a lost and wistful look on his face) and Remus opened the door. Sirius fell through into a heap before them.

Remus raised his eyebrows, though he was not remotely surprised with these antics – such was life in the Marauders. Sirius looked up from the floor. "Can you _please_ tell me now?"

"Fine." Remus muttered, "James?"

James looked at Remus in disbelief, "Why do I have to do it?"

"Because you've known him longer." Remus told him firmly.

"So?"

"_So_?"

Sirius glared up. "DON'T TALK ABOUT ME IN FRONT OF ME! WILL ONE OF YOU _PLEASE_ TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?" James and Remus stopped their bickering and looked back at him.

"Fine." James muttered. "I guess _I'll_ do it because Remus is a wimp."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"I _am_ not! I just have a highly developed sense of self-preservation."

"You are too!"

Sirius sighed and laid down on his bed, staring at them and waiting for them to finish. After about five minutes he cleared his throat. "Could you please tell me what's going on. Honestly, you're acting like _me_. And it's _weird_."

"Er right." Remus replied. One little instance of your average snogging drama and we was becoming nearly as immature as his friends. "Sorry."

"Anyways," James began, "Last night you got annoyingly tipsy-'

Sirius interrupted looking highly offended, "I do _not_ get drunk!"

"Hey!" James snapped, "Do you want to hear the story or not? Besides I said _annoyingly tipsy_ not _smashed_. I reckon McGonagall's right about your lack of listening skills."

"Fine." Sirius muttered bitterly, eyes narrowed. Remus, on the other hand, looked at the situation highly amused.

"Anyways," James started again, "It was a dark and stormy-''

"And I think I'll tell Sirius now." Remus cut in. "Sirius you made out with Brenna."

A look of surprise came over Sirius's face. "Really? That's interesting. I don't remember that. I usually remember. Maybe I was drunk."

"Told you." James muttered.

"That's pretty cool. I mean I had a crush on her for, like, a week. This is good."

Remus and James looked at Sirius in shock. He looked at their faces, "What?"

"Sirius if you had such a crush on her then why didn't you ask her out? I don't think anybody's ever turned you down before." Remus told his friend.

"An entire week? For you that's like…" James trailed off, unable to find something comparable to such a lengthy period of emotional commitment.

"Well, okay, maybe it was more like a day. And you are such a dumb-ass Remus. First of all, I did not have a major crush – just a small, slight, easily fixable dent." Sirius replied indignantly. "Secondly," he turned back to James, "I have had _one_ girl turn me down before –"

"Oh yeah," James replied, "That was hilarious –"

"Hey don't interrupt me! And it wasn't funny! And third of all, I was absolutely terrified."

"Now we're getting somewhere." Remus mumbled. "Sirius, why were you scared?"

Sirius turned sheet white. "Oh no. Oh shit. I'm dead. Why are you doing this to me?"

"Us?" James asked.

"No," Sirius replied, "Him." He pointed his finger straight up in the air. Remus and James tried to look sympathetic instead of hysterical. The failed miserably.

"It's not funny." Sirius snorted indignantly. He left the room.

"I'll go get him." Remus volunteered, following Sirius out of the room.

* * *

Erica and Lily walked down the hallway and down half of the stairs and back up on their side. Arabella came out of Brenna's room. "She is still asleep." She informed them.

"We were umm… in the kitchen." Erica told Arabella. Lily jabbed Erica in the side and smiled at her best friend.

Arabella looked at them with a raised eye-brow. "Okay. Um… that's cool?"

"So I guess we better wake her up, huh? Come on Erica." Lily pulled Erica into the bedroom. Arabella followed them.

"Peter's still here?"Erica asked.

"Apparently so." Lily stated. Arabella grabbed Peter by his wrists and dragged him out of the room.

"Erica," Lily snapped quietly, "What was with the kitchen thing? You are so bad at being inconspicuous."

"Sorry." Erica said with a shrug. It's not as if Lily's accusation was particularly unfounded.

"Besides, she doesn't care that we talked to Remus and James."

Arabella came back into the room. "I dragged him across the floor and he didn't wake up. It's almost impressive."

Brenna woke up before Erica and Lily could respond. "Oh. My. God. My head really hurts." Erica handed her an Advil and a cup of water. "Thanks."

Brenna looked up at them. "Why exactly are you all standing there, staring at me?"

"We're not staring per say." Arabella replied lamely.

Brenna arched an eyebrow. "Okay. But why are you in here? I wasn't even awake. Speaking of which, why am _I_ in the guest room instead of our bedroom?"

"Uh, Lily will explain everything." Erica said, motioning for her friend to talk.

"You were, erm, you may have gotten drunk last night?" Lily offered Brenna.

"You don't say?" Brenna replied sarcastically, "I had no idea that sleeping so late and earth-shattering headaches were symptoms of excessive alcohol consumption."

"Oh." Arabella looked surprised. She turned to Erica, "Than why _are_ we here?"

"You mean you waited in here all morning to tell me that I'm going to have a hangover?" Brenna looked at her friends incredulously.

"Well it's not like we were in here _all_ morning." Erica told Brenna indignantly.

"Erica." Lily said loudly. "That's not what we were trying to tell you." She continued turning to Brenna.

"Then what were you trying to tell me?" Brenna asked.

"Uh, well, it's just, er…you don't happen to remember anything that happened when you were drunk?"

"Of course I do. What did you think? I remember everything I did." Brenna replied.

"Oh really? Is there anything you want to talk to talk to us about then?" Arabella asked.

"Did I miss something? What is everybody making a big deal about?" Brenna was starting to get irritated.

"Oh just the fact that you made out with your friend's arch enemy and now are acting like it's no big D." Erica informed her. Lily and Erica looked at the expression on Brenna's face and made a bee-line for the door. "Time to go, time to go," Lily whispered hurriedly, pushing Erica through the door.

Brenna sat down suddenly on the bed. "I thought you said you remembered everything." Arabella said grinning.

"Oh hush up." Brenna said quietly. She looked at Arabella. "Oh my God. What did you do to him? Is he even still alive?"

Arabella grinned guiltily. "Oh, I can hurt him. A little thing like me? He's big, he's tough. He lived through the night at least."

Brenna groaned. "Arabella Figg!"

"I'm sorry! Sort of," Arabella apologized lamely. Brenna shot her a look. "I'm overprotective," Arabella explained further.

"But AJ, I've had a crush on this guy for a couple of weeks now."

"Really? Ew. Why? And why didn't you tell me?"

Brenna raised an eyebrow. "Can you _really_ blame me?"

"Maybe I would have been a little bit upset." Arabella said mildly.

"A little upset? AJ you would have maimed the guy. Then again, you already did, so look how well secrecy turned out." Arabella grinned. "It's not funny!" Brenna shrieked at her.

"Actually, if you think about it, it kind of is." Arabella replied.

"You know, you didn't really beat him up." Brenna told her.

Arabella looked at her with a shocked expression. "I did so!"

"No. He could have kicked your ass."

"Why are you taking this away from me? And if he could've beat me up then why didn't he?"

"Because he's nice and charming and would never hit a girl."

"What are you saying? Look at my lip!" Arabella leaned forward and pointed to her lip.

"Oh please. You got that from his class ring." Brenna told her.

"Exactly. Do you want to go out with a guy who has his initials on _everything_?"

"Oh yeah? At least I didn't go out with Lucius Malfoy."

"Hey! This isn't about my bad taste in men. We already know about that. Except for Hunter, of course."

Brenna sighed exasperatedly. "AJ, you are _completely_ defeating the point!"

"Wait. What was the point?"

Brenna crossed her arms. "I want you to apologize to him."

"What! Are you mad?"

"It's not that hard AJ."

"Do you know what you're asking me to do?"

"I think you'll live."

"You can't be serious! That is the worst possible thing that I could ever do, and I'm including eating undiluted bubotuber pus is on that list."

"If you're my friend, you would do it."

"Eat undiluted bubotuber pus?"

"_AJ_!"

Arabella crossed her arms and looked at Brenna. "Fine, but you can't use that excuse for a whole week."

"I'll survive."

Arabella grinned at Brenna. Brenna grinned, too, and hugged her. "I hate you, you know." Arabella whispered.

"I would hate me too." Brenna replied with a grin.

* * *

Sirius sat beneath the huge willow that looked over the small pond. He sighed and skipped a stone over the water's shallow surface.

Remus ducked beneath the curtain of leaves that surrounded the old willow. He walked towards the trunk where Sirius was sitting looking over the shallow water.

"We didn't mean to make you mad you know." Remus told him. Sirius jumped and looked over at Remus.

"Don't do that! And you didn't make me mad." Sirius replied bitterly, skipping another stone across the lake.

"Oh really?" Remus asked. "Then what did we make you?"

"Fine. You might have, at some point, made me, just the slightest bit, mad." Sirius replied. He threw a stone into the pond. It the drops splashed up against the willows leaves.

"Why are you even mad? I told you that Brenna would probably want to start dating you."

"You also told me that Figg would probably want to kill me."

"She kind of already did." Remus replied.

Sirius tossed a pebble in Remus's direction. "And you wonder why I'm angry." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Remus laughed. He had learned long ago to take neither Sirius's haughtiness nor James's distraction personally. "Sorry. But even you must see how amusing this situation is."

Sirius dark grey eyes stared at Remus with a small gleam of amusement. "You have to be the worst friend in the world."

"Unfortunately for you, I think that I'm your best friend. I came down to talk to you and James didn't. And Peter's still asleep."

Sirius looked up at him. "If you're my best friend then…I do believe I'm royally screwed."

Remus was about to reply when they heard a rustle in the leaves. Arabella stepped through the curtain of leaves. "Hey Remus," she said, grinning at the so-greeted Remus.

"Hey AJ," He said, "We were just…" Remus looked behind him and frowned at the tree trunk. Sirius was no longer here.

"We?" Arabella looked at Remus quizzically.

"Yeah…well…ummm." Remus tried to think of an explanation.

"Remus, you are such a freak." Arabella laughed and grabbed his wrist and pulled him down to sit next to her.

"I am not!" Remus objected, trying to act offended.

Arabella laughed a silvery laugh, and Remus grinned at her. "So why are you here?"

Arabella stopped laughing abruptly, and her bright blue eyes stared at Remus intensely. "I could ask you the same thing." She replied.

"AJ–" Remus began but Arabella cut him off.

"I'm looking for Black." A massive black dog hidden behind a tree shuddered.

Remus did a double take and his jaw dropped low. Arabella smiled at his expression and used her forefinger to close his to bring his chin back up. Remus felt a tingling sensation when her finger brushed his chin and he shivered.

"You okay Remy?" She asked. Her eyes were staring at him as if she could see what he was thinking.

Remus shook his head. "What? Yeah, I'm fine…So anyways what did you just tell me? I don't think I heard it right…"

Arabella laughed her enchanting laugh again and Remus almost had to plug his ears. "You know what I said Remy."

Remus was quiet for a couple minutes and he absently rubbed his shoulder. The massive head of a black dog peered around the trunk of the willow. Arabella glanced at it. Then she did a double take and it was gone. She shook her head and turned back to Remus. "How's your shoulder?" She asked sympathetically. The black head of a dog peered around the tree quickly. How _does_ she know these things? Padfoot wondered.

Remus grinned charmingly at her, "You know it has been better." He replied.

Arabella smiled apologetically. "Sorry I got you thrown into a wall." Remus smiled and stroked the back of her hand. "I think I'll forgive you." Arabella grinned at him. They stared silently at the water for a couple of minutes.

Finally, Arabella stood up. "I suppose I've put it off long enough…I better go find Black-no, wait, Sirius. Merlin, it's hard to suddenly switch what you've call someone since forever…Bye Remus." Arabella turned and disappeared under the curtain of leaves and long branches.

"Sooo," Sirius said, walking out from behind the tree.

"Merlin!" Remus said, jumping. "Is that where you disappeared to? How long have you been there?"

"Long enough, Moony my dear friend, long enough." Sirius said, ignoring the first question. He grinned and sat down next to his friend.

"Long enough for what?" Remus asked, scared of the answer. Sirius was wearing the expression he always got before he was _particularly _annoying.

Sirius raised his eyebrows as if the answer were obvious. It was an annoying trait. "Long enough to know that you _love_ her."

Remus jumped up and looked at his friend. "What? Me? Love her? Are you drunk again?"

Sirius laughed. "Hey, I wasn't drunk last night. Just a bit tipsy."

"I don't love her. Besides, how would you know; you've never loved anybody in your life. Love her? I couldn't possibly." Remus paced back in front of where Sirius was casually sitting.

"Relax. I didn't insist." Sirius said, pushing himself up and standing by the edge of the pond. "Sorry I got you thrown into a wall." Sirius said, raising his voice to a high falsetto. "I think I'll forgive you." He said, lowering his voice again.

Remus stood there, shaking his head and laughing. Then he ran suddenly at Sirius and knocked him into the shallow pond. Sirius stood up and shook water out of his hair. "That…was low." He said pulling Remus in.

"Hey!" Remus objected, "haven't you hurt me enough already?" Remus pushed Sirius down again.

"Speaking of which," Sirius said pushing his friend towards the middle of the pond, "How did she know about that giant-ass bruise on your shoulders?"

"Well," Remus began as he pulled Sirius, in a headlock, with him into the deeper middle of the pond, "she saw it this morning when we were eating breakfast. I was in boxers and she was in a, a, uh, towel. I turned around to make her toast and she asked me what happened."

Sirius pushed Remus under and tried to wade back to shore. He heard Remus gasp for breath and started talking, "What is with her and walking around in towels? You made her toast? See, that's love, mate."

Remus grabbed Sirius's ankle and pulled him back down. "So? You've made her food before."

Sirius rolled over and kicked Remus in the back of the knees, "How did you know about that?"

"I didn't," Remus replied, kicking Sirius and knocking him down. "I made it up. I figured it had to have happened some time. When did you make her food?"

"Never you mind." Sirius said, now getting Remus in a headlock. "Say you love her."

"No!"

"Say you love her!" Sirius ordered tightening his grip.

"No!"

"Say it!"

"No!"

"Say it! Now!"

"Fine!" Remus shouted. He breathed for a second. "I love her."

"I can't hear you."

"I love her goddammit. Now let me go!"

"Fine!" Sirius released and the boys collapsed into the water.

"I just said that so you let go." Remus muttered.

"Oh, shut up." Sirius muttered.

* * *

Arabella wandered up the stairs. She was about to turn right at the split, when she heard laughs coming from the left side of the house.

She wandered up the remaining stairs and walked down the boys' hallway. She walked into the Marauders' bedroom, where the laughter seemed to be coming from. She raised her eyebrows when she saw her three friends sitting in there with James and Peter. They missed her look because they were all leaning up against the large window in the back of the large room. She cleared her throat and leaned against the doorjamb. Everybody glanced at her quickly and turned back to the window.

"Hey," James greeted her. His breath fogged up the window and he quickly wiped the glass.

"What can possibly be so entertaining in the garden? I was just out there." Arabella asked, hands on hip.

Erica turned around and grinned at her. "Nothing is interesting. You know, were just watching the sun set."

Arabella rolled her eyes, seeing as how the sun had set an hour ago at least. "Fine you don't have to tell me. Could you at least tell me where Sirius is?"

The group's gaze finally left the window. They turned around and looked at her again. "You…You're not going to…going to hurt him again are you?" Peter stuttered. He looked frightened, and Arabella rolled her eyes.

"No-" Peter sighed and they all turned back to the window, "But I need to talk to him." She finished, her voice rising.

"Well, he's out by the pond." Erica told her.

"Thanks," Arabella muttered as she left the room.

* * *

Arabella walked down to the pond to find Remus and Sirius lying in the shallow waters of the pond. She rushed in. "Remus, are you okay?" She asked her friend, kneeling over him. Sirius rolled over onto his stomach and looked at her. "Why don't you give him mouth to mouth?" Sirius suggested winking at her.

"Sirius, I have a boyfriend! You should try not being such an incredible prat sometime. I've heard girls like that." She turned her attention back to Remus. "Remus? Remus, are you okay? Because you're responsible for the civility in the house, so if you die, war breaks loose." When he did not answer her, a worried frown wrinkled her forehead. Her worry, however, was quickly abated; Remus slowly spit a fountain of water up at her face. "Oh Remus, that's disgusting." She said, smacking his shoulder. He laughed and pushed her into the water.

They rolled around in the water until Remus ended up on top of her. He stared at her. Her hair was moving because of the water's currents and she was laughing. Merlin, she was so...intoxicating.

"Hmm-mmm." Sirius said loudly, clearing his throat. Remus and Arabella looked over at him. Remus helped Arabella stand. "Oh…ummm." Sirius said, motioning with his shirt. Arabella looked down and crossed her arms. Most white shirts have an unfortunate transparency policy when wet, and her tank top was no exception.

"Here." Remus said, handing her his shirt.

"Oh," She said taking it, "Thank you. I would say you're so sweet, but considering you caused this…"

Remus grinned sheepishly, "Sorry."

"It's okay. Hey Remus, do you think you could wait for us by the edge of the pond? I have to talk to Black. No, wait. Sirius."

"What?" Sirius yelped from the middle of the pond. He looked absolutely terrified.

"You heard me." She replied.

Remus grinned almost evilly at Sirius and then he walked out of the pond and sat beneath the branches of the willow.

"It's so weird having a willow that doesn't womp." She said, laughing nervously. Sirius grinned slightly but still looked very edgy. Arabella Figg, in his expert opinion, was much more dangerous than the Whomping Willow.

"Oh relax. I'm not going to hurt you…I did that all yesterday – Sorry, that wasn't funny…I just want to…talk to you." Arabella said, sounding as if talking to him were the very last thing she wanted to do. She, nonetheless, walked towards Sirius.

"About what?" he asked, resisting the urge to back away. He was a Gryffindor. Merlin, he could use that courage now.

She grinned, "Well, I just wanted to-whoa." She tripped over a branch hidden under the water. Sirius caught her on reflex and as soon as she had her balance, she backed away quickly.

"Well?" He asked, "I'm sure 'whoa' isn't what you wanted to say."

"Since when did you know anything?" Sirius looked as if he were about to reply. "Wait no sorry-that's rude. Anyways, I just wanted to apologize."

Sirius was quiet for a moment. "What?" He asked slowly. Had the girls, perhaps, taken to pranking?

"That's right. I wanted to say I'm sorry and feel free to," She paused as if she was having trouble getting the next word out, "snog Brenna."

"Hey," He replied. "Brenna's more than a good snog. I mean she's not. I mean she _is_, but…What I'm trying to say is…errr – wow this is hard…I guess what I'm trying to say is that I, uhhh, _like _her?"

Arabella grinned, "Good. Well you should. She's perfectly lovely. But I swear that if you hurt her, like you've hurt every other girl you ever dated, I'll hurt you so badly you won't be able to tell Peter from a sack of potatoes."

He grinned, "A hard distinction to make already." They laughed uneasily for a moment, still not quite comfortable with each other. They grinned slightly at each other (what else was there to do?) and waded through the shallow water back to the bank, standing about a yard apart. Arabella hugged Remus. "Everything's settled," she told him.

"What's settled?" He asked, following her with Sirius behind him.

"Everything!" She replied, grabbing his hand. _Goddamn Americans_ Remus thought to himself, _Seven years in Britain and they still couldn't learn to communicate properly_.

"You know what Figg? You're not so bad." Sirius told Arabella, walking on her other side. "What the hell did I miss?" Remus wondered aloud. Arabella laughed and opened the door.

Remus led her up the staircase, and Sirius followed behind. Their friends stood at the left side of the staircase, with their eyebrows cocked. Arabella, Sirius, and Remus stopped at the split in the staircase. Sirius grinned at Arabella, she smiled back – both were incredibly strained, but a smile was a smile. Then Arabella turned away and hugged Remus.

"Night." She called to them as she headed up to the right. The rest of their friends stood in shock. Then Erica, Brenna, and Lily ran down one side of stairs and up the other after Arabella.

James and Peter stood at the top of the stairs staring at their friends. "What the hell happened out there?" James asked Remus. "What the _bloody_ hell happened?" He asked again looking at his two friends. Remus and Sirius just grinned at the friends as they passed them at the top of the staircase. "What the bloody hell?" James asked following them.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

**Special Thanks to:**

**Skittles in Aqua**: Thanks for your review. If I told you about Sirius and AJ it would ruin everything. I think I read a story of yours but right now I have a killer headache so I don't precisely remember.

**Messed-upMaddness**: Okay, like I've said before. I can't really tell you very much. Right now Sirius and Brenna are together, as you already know.

**bboo**: Wow, that totally never occurred to me that she could be considered a bitch. She's my favorite (besides Sirius) so the way I wrote her never occurred to me. Don't worry though, I actually already have plans for her to get nicer. Thanks for the realization.

**Sydney F. Rotten**: I'm so glad that you liked my chapter. But I can't really imagine anyone liking this one, but maybe that's just me…

**namigirl4**: You have no idea how happy I am that you said that. Thank you sooo much.


	8. Some Things Fall Apart

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 8 – Some Things Fall Apart~

"_Though we adore men individually, we agree that as a group they're rather stupid." ~ Mary Poppins_

Arabella ran down the stairs and into the living room. "We get to go shopping!" She yelled at her friends as she jumped on the couch next to Erica, who put down the magazine she had been reading. "I want that one," she said, pointing to a red dress, designed by Yves St. Laurent. "Ohhh, that's really nice. You would look stunning." Arabella complemented her friend, grabbing the magazine.

"I wanna see, I wanna see." Lily said leaping across the room from her seat in the 'comfy chair'. She grabbed the magazine "Ohhh. That _is_ really nice." She looked at her friend and grinned.

"Toss it over here?" Brenna said. The magazine flew through the air. She caught it and flipped to the folded page. "Hey, why do you get it?" she asked, examining it.

"Because…I saw it first." Erica responded snatching back the magazine.

"Fine." Brenna replied. She grinned at her friends.

"Why can't you just wear the same dress?" James asked. All of the girls stared at him. Then they started to laugh.

"Congratulations Potter. I didn't know you were funny in the least." Arabella said between fits of laughter.

James grinned sheepishly. "Er, why is that funny?' He asked glancing from Remus to Sirius. Remus just shrugged his shoulders but Sirius shook his head slowly in warning.

"James you're too much." Arabella told him, still giggling slightly. "I'm gonna go get a Pepsi. Does anybody want anything?"

"A beer." Sirius told her.

"Yeah me too." James told her.

"Does anybody else want booze?" Arabella asked.

"No thanks." Remus replied. "I don't drink at noon." Everybody laughed except for James and Sirius, who just sniffed in a dignified manner.

Arabella left the room and returned a few minutes later holding a can of Pepsi and a couple beers.

"Just one each?" James asked. Arabella rolled her eyes and handed James and Sirius their beers. She walked across the room to where Remus was sitting in the comfy chair. "Get up." She told him.

Remus looked up at her. "Why?"

Arabella looked at him. "Because I need to sit in it. It'll make my Pepsi taste better."

Remus looked at her incredulously. "Have you gone daft? How is that even possible?"

"Remy." Arabella looked at him with a pleading look on her face

"No. You need a better reason than 'it makes my Pepsi better.' Come on, what was that?"

"Fine." Arabella said. "Here's a reason; move!"

Remus smirked and laughed. "Make me." From across the room Sirius's eyes grew wide. 'Don't make her ma-ad.' He mouthed to his friend.

Arabella narrowed her eyes at him. Then she suddenly changed looks and made puppy eyes at him. "Pretty please Remy." She begged.

"There's room for two." Remus said patting his lap.

Arabella stared at him for the first moment. "Fine." She sat very slowly down on to his lap. Sirius made eye contact with Remus again. He raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. Remus rolled his eyes and looked away from his friend.

"So anyways," Arabella said, now addressing her friends, "I was thinking that we could get our nails painted on Friday. It's a minimum day so we can go right after school." She paused and looked at her hand. "I can never seem to keep polish on."

"Maybe," Sirius butted in, ignoring his own advice about no angering her, "it would last longer if you didn't constantly hit people."

Arabella glanced at Sirius. She smiled at him, too sweetly, and looked at her nails again. "There not painted yet you know…"

"'Nuff said," Sirius stood up quickly, "I'm gonna go get a bottle opener."

"Merlin, I work so hard yet you _still_ find fault with my services." Arabella said to Sirius in a fake whine.

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. "Services? What kind of services are these?" He asked her with his eyebrows raised.

"Waitressing! Waitressing, you git. Get out of here!" Arabella snapped at him. Sirius quickly left the room, and headed into the kitchen. Arabella laughed and turned back to her friends. "So then we should get our hair done after that. Then we can come, get dressed, and beautifully prepared. Then we go to winter formal!"

Lily stared at her best friend. "How much time do you spend, thinking about these things?" She asked.

"About as much time as you spend making color-coded study schedules for exams," Arabella replied with a laugh. Everyone joined her in laughter, and Lily shrugged sheepishly.

"You forgot one thing." Erica added, folding a page in her magazine. "When do we shop?"

Brenna was about to say something when James interrupted. "Why do you even need to shop? We have clothes that can change into anything you imagine." The girls stared at him. Remus whistled the way you do when you do when you know someone said something they wish they could take back.

"So we can have Gucci! Not some cheap knock off." Brenna said, staring at him in disbelief.

"Or Chanel!" Lily said, staring at James like he was some kind of alien.

"Or Yves Saint Laurent!" Erica added, thinking of 'her' dress.

"You, Potter, have completely ruined the entire experience for us." They got up in unison and left the room. Remus grinned at his friend and shook his head. "James, 'ma boy. When will you learn?"

Sirius entered the room and looked around. "Okay, who chased all the women away?" He asked.

"James did." Remus replied.

"Honestly? James you're practically turning into Peter." Sirius said, popping of the cap of his beer.

"I am _here_ you know." Peter said, looking at his friend.

Sirius jumped and turned around to look at Peter leaning up against the couch. "I almost forgot." Sirius told him, "But don't worry I would have said that if I had known you were here. Anyways you should make yourself known. Take me for instance," Sirius pointed at himself, "People always know when I'm in a room."

"Unfortunately so." Arabella replied. Sirius jumped again and turned to see her leaning against the doorjamb.

"Hey –" Sirius said.

"Nice come back." Arabella replied smoothly.

"What are you doing here AJ?" Remus asked her.

"Oh. Erica left her magazine behind. I offered to come back and get it." She replied walking toward the coffee table.

"Why? To come see me?" Remus asked sarcastically but not enough to cover up the hopefulness. Sirius looked amused.

Arabella laughed and shook her glossy hair. "You're so cute. No, actually I just volunteered in hopes that I could 'accidentally' kick James as I walked out the door."

"Accidentally, of course." Sirius said.

"Of course," Arabella agreed walking back across the room. James, having witnessed Sirius's numerous injuries over the years, scooted away from the entrance as she walked by. "I'll let you get back to your heart to heart." She added as she walked out the door.

"Hey! We weren't having a heart to heart! I don't even know what that is! Hey!" Sirius yelled after her. He made a move as if to get up but then decided against it. "We'll fix that later." He caught sight of Remus's dazed look. "We'll fix him later, too. Anyways, James how did you get the women to leave the room? I mean, aside from your natural, ah, charisma."

"I'm not sure…" James said, too puzzled to respond to the last part.

"Well –" Peter began.

"Not now, Peter." Sirius said absent mindedly. He saw that Remus was still in a dazed trance and, good friend he was, punched him in the gut.

"What?" Remus asked startled. "Oh, James asked them why they needed to shop." Sirius stared at James for a moment as if he had never seen anything quite so stupendously stupid and then made the same long low whistle that Remus had made earlier. Sirius walked over and sat next to his friend. He put his hand on his shoulder and sighed.

"James, James, James," He began very slowly, "Never question a women's need to shop. It is what she does when she needs therapy. What she does for fun. It's where she goes in she's happy, sad, or anything in-between, you name it. It is in women psyche to shop. And you must never question this. Never, never, never." Sirius paused for a moment. "The woman's mind is something we will never understand."

"Sirius," James asked slyly, raising his eyebrow at his friend, "If it so hard to understand, then how did you ever come to be so knowledgeable on the subject? Are you sure you're not a woman?" Remus laughed and quietly turned it into a cough. Peter tried to laugh but had crammed so much popcorn into his mouth that he really ended up coughing.

Sirius grinned at his friend and flipped his hair behind his shoulder, in a surprisingly effeminate manner. "Like Jamsie-poo, why on earth would you think that?" He pinched his friend's cheek in a manner suggestive of a great aunt during holiday. "Oh my god, this dance is gonna be, like, totally awesome. Ohmygod! I'm so excited. When should I get my hair done? Oh this is gonna be sooo fun!" Sirius giggled and batted his eyelashes. Then he thumped his chest and coughed. "I think I lost my voice." He said hoarsely.

James and Remus laughed. "I'm glad you're back. You were the ugliest damn bird I've ever seen." James told his friend, patting him on the back.

"I would never go out with someone that ugly." Peter added.

James looked at Peter. "Like you'd have a choice," He retorted

Peter looked at his friend, "Oh, go shove it up your arse, he was really ugly What's with gang-up-on-Peter day?"

Sirius looked back at them as he walked up the stairs, waving off Peter's question with an apologetic grin. He had more important matters to address: "If I'm that ugly then how come all of the chicks adore me?"

Remus looked at Peter and James, "He does have a point." He pointed out (with an unintentional pun).

"By the way, the reason I know so much about the women psyche is because I've slept with so many of them." Sirius grinned at his friends still walking backwards. James, Peter, and Remus all looked away from Sirius and cleared their throats. Sirius turned around slowly.

"Lovely." Arabella replied, her eyebrows arched.

"What? It's not like you don't go around talking about all the men you've slept with." Sirius told her.

"Excuse me," Arabella objected. "I don't do that."

"Well, why not?" Sirius asked shock.

"So you _are _as thick as you look, hmmm? I suppose it's just not in the _woman psyche_ to talk about. But you, of course, should know that. I mean, considering you're the Master of all Women. Of course, it's not a particularly classy thing to do, so I do suppose it's no surprise that you do."

Sirius looked at her and grinned, not remotely hurt by her scathing comments (they had come so thick and so fast for so many years, he had developed something of a thick pelt). "Personal stab, huh?"

"I thought you deserved it for prying," Arabella replied, smiling slightly despite the fact she was addressing Sirius Black.

"So, I suppose you would like it if I kept my nose out of your business?" Sirius asked sheepishly, though not without his signature unabashed grin.

"That'd be lovely, thanks." Arabella replied walking down the stairs.

"Not gonna happen," Sirius muttered under his breath as she walked away.

They waited until she was gone. "Way with women?" James asked sarcastically.

"Oh, shut it, Prongs. She's a man-eater. It's not my usual type so obviously I can't have her figured out." Sirius replied logically. "Good luck with that, eh Remus?"

"Oh _you_ shut it," Remus replied, following his friends up the remaining stairs.

* * *

Arabella lifted the weight up and slowly brought it back down. "Okay Lily. Do you have any idea what you want your dress to look like?" She asked. She pushed the bar back up again.

"No, but I have exactly until tomorrow to think about it. Who knows?" She asked. She put Arabella's bar on the holder and added five pounds to each side of it.

"I imagine yours will look perfect. You're Lily – that's what you do. I, on the other hand, haven't got a clue. I think it's actually easier to shop because you know that you're not going to get the perfect dress to begin with so your standard is automatically lower. I really don't think I'm that creative."

"Don't worry honey, you're gonna look bootylicious." Erica said walking over.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked, trading places with Arabella.

"Well hello to you too. I just came to tell you that Remus, Peter, Brenna and I are taking off. Is it okay if James and Sirius get a ride home with you?"

"Sure," Arabella replied, taking the keys and sticking them in her purse. "Did they get another detention?"

"It's their favorite extracurricular. You know they're practically useless on the rugby team. I mean they're good enough in the game, but they miss almost every practice because of detentions. And here I was thinking that they made excuses for the jocks." Erica laughed and waved. "I had better go. I would hate for them to leave before I got back. Try not to kill Sirius – for Brenna's sake."

"Bye Rica!" Arabella said pointedly.

"See you when we get home." Lily huffed as she pushed the bar up yet again. Once Erica left, two guys strolled over to the girls. One was about five foot nine with bright red hair and blazing blue eyes, the other, only about five foot five with dull brown hair, brown eyes, and a rather wide nose. They stood there, looking at Lily and Arabella.

"Er, hi." Arabella said, staring them down.

"Was that really Erica Parker?" The redhead asked.

"Uhhh…yeah?" Lily replied. She glanced at them with a questioning look on her face. Arabella helped Lily put the bar back, and they headed over to the mechanical bikes, hoping the two strangers wouldn't follow.

"Dope!" The short one exclaimed. He looked at his friend and they did some kind of strange secret handshake.

"What about it?" Arabella asked as she pedaled her bike 'uphill'.

"Is she really that easy?" The redhead asked her.

"What?" Lily and Arabella exclaimed at the exact same time. The whole room grew silent as everyone stared at them.

"We need to talk." Arabella stated, grabbing the carrot top's collar and leading him out of the room. Lily did the same thing with shorty. The girls lead them out of the weight room, down the stairs, through the airy tower that was the athletic ward, and onto the grassy knoll that lay before the playing fields.

"First of all, do you have names?" Arabella asked, pacing before them.

"Yeah," Carrottop replied. "I'm Ryan."

"And I'm Chad." Shorty replied.

"Pleasure. Now _where_ did you hear this?" Lily asked, looking between the two guys.

"We heard it from a great source." Chad stated.

"We heard it from her boyfriend his-self." Ryan added.

"Daniel." Chad added for clarification. Arabella turned to Lily.

"Do you think we should beat him up?" She whispered to her friend. Lily looked at Arabella. She seemed to be in thought for a couple of minutes. "No," She replied slowly, having come to a conclusion. "I think we should ask Erica first." Lily finished.

"Then we beat him up?" Arabella asked, sounding a little too hopeful.

"Not if you have your nails done." Lily replied pointedly. The girls looked at each other for a second or two and then laughed quietly. Lily turned back to Shorty and C-er Chad and Ryan. "You can go now." She said, with a quiet force. Then Arabella and Lily turned back up the stairs to return to the weight room.

Lily and Arabella ran quickly on their respective treadmills. Hunter crossed the room from where he was doing pull-ups. He started the treadmill on the right side of Arabella.

"Hey," He greeted her, starting slowly.

"Hi." Arabella replied coldly. She turned back and started whispering fervently with Lily.

"How has your day been?" Hunter asked, trying to get her attention back. Arabella ignored him. "Arabella." He said a litter louder.

"Don't call me that!" She snapped at him. She looked over at him as if sizing him up. Turning back to her workout, she upped both the speed and the incline on her treadmill. "What do you tell people about our relationship? How easy am I?" She asked him furiously, temper bursting forth; she could never contain it very well. She increased her speed again and continued to run.

"Oh…So you heard about what Daniel's saying about Erica?" He asked her. He too slowly increased his speed, as if he was trying to keep pace with her. She glanced at him furiously. He looked away sheepishly.

"Yes. I heard." She snapped at him. "How could you let him say that?"

"Arabella, there was nothing I could do. I only heard the rumor a moment ago. Supposedly, he's been spreading it all day." He replied. He watched her run for a second. "You might want to slow down," he advised her.

Arabella narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me what to do." She accelerated to the maximum. "You didn't answer my first question, Hunter. _What have you been telling people about our relationship_?"

"Arabella, slow down!" Arabella looked at him with her eyebrows raised and kept running. "I haven't said anything – except about how perfect you are." He grinned at her.

Arabella gave him such a furious look that it took all his self control not to jump away. "Don't you fucking suck up to me now, Hunter." She saw Sirius and James come to the door. "We have to go." She turned off her treadmill and hopped off.

"Arabella wait." He said grabbing her arm. She turned to snark at him with narrowed eyes. "Don't touch me!" She ordered, yanking her arm away. He watched her walk out of the room.

"So I guess the perfect relationship isn't that perfect anymore, now is it?" Sirius asked as Lily and Arabella walked out the door.

"For once Black won't you just _sod off_." Arabella replied as she shoved past him. Sirius looked surprised (Arabella had been working rather hard to keep her ire to a minimum) and glanced at Lily for answers.

"They, well, got into a bit of a fight." Lily informed them of the obvious.

"So I gathered." Sirius replied, watching Arabella cut across the field to the parking lot.

James and Lily sat in silence in the back seat. Arabella was sitting shotgun and Sirius was driving leaning as far away from her as he could. Arabella sat in a hushed silence, leaning her head out of the window.

When they pulled into the garage Arabella grabbed the keys and got out of the car. She went into the house and slammed the door behind her. Lily, James and Sirius sat in the car for a moment. "What on earth got her so pissed off?"

Lily sighed and patted his knee. "Daniel," She replied, sliding out of the car and going into the house.

"Wait," James said slowly. "Isn't she dating that Hunter bloke?" He asked his best friend.

"Thought so, though who really knows with that one?" Sirius replied. "Daniel is Erica's man-friend." James and Sirius laughed and went into the house.

* * *

Arabella walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. She chugged it down and grabbed another. She walked into the bathroom and grabbed an Advil from the medicine cabinet, taking it with her water and finishing the bottle as she went back into the kitchen. She grabbed an apple and sipped a third bottle of water. She grabbed the phone and punched in Hunter's number. She sat on the chair listening to it ring before getting his answering machine.

**Hey, this is Hunter. Obviously I'm not home right now**

**so just leave a message and your digits and I'll give you**

**a ring. Catch ya later!**

Arabella paused for a moment and began to speak hesitantly. "Hi Hunter…this is AJ. I just called to tell you that I think we need to…I think we need to go on a…go on a break. I need to calm down for a while. I'll see you when you get back from your trip to the states. Make sure you come to our New Year's Party. Remember its costume. Bye…Oh, and please don't call me back." Arabella hung up the phone and sighed. She sipped her water and walked up the stairs, running into Remus halfway way up. "Hi AJ." She frowned and waved slightly. "What's wrong?" He asked. He grinned at her.

"It's none of your damn business so please kindly fuck off." She replied caustically. He stared at her in shock; she continued up the stairs. Recovering from the surprise, he ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair and sighed, resuming his trek down the stairs. "Women," he muttered, shaking his head.

Remus ran into James and Sirius in the kitchen. "What is _up_ with her?" He asked them, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

"Who?" James asked looking at his friend.

"Arabella, huh?" Sirius asked.

"Understatement. I just caught her on the staircase. She told me to "fuck off". Why would she say that?" Remus asked. He looked thoroughly confused.

"It's her new favorite word." James replied.

"Looks like that the end of your chances of dating her." Sirius informed Remus.

Remus threw Sirius a nasty look (to which Sirius responded 'Wow you do an uncanny impression of her.'). "Why is that her new favorite word, Prongs?" he asked.

"Because she got into a fight because of something about Daniel did." James replied, as if he knew about the entire topic.

"But she's with Hunter. Git." Remus responded.

"Yes well that's who she was yelling at. But Lily said that she was mad at Daniel." Sirius informed him.

"This is," Remus rubbed his temples, "nonsensical. I am _utterly_ confused."

"You think that you'd be used to it by now." Sirius responded.

"No you can't use that on me. That's more of a Peter thing...and maybe, on occasion, James." Remus countered.

"Hey!" James objected.

"It's true." Sirius replied. James glared at him. "Only on occasion," Sirius qualified, holding up his hands in surrender. Remus laughed.

"So why'd you get a detention today?" Remus asked.

"Well, you see…"

* * *

When Arabella got to the top of the stairs she ran into Lily, who looked at her urgently. "I think we should go talk to Erica now." Lily told her. Arabella shook her head at her and took a gulp of her water.

"I have a splitting headache." She begged off, turning and continuing to their room.

"Arabella! Great, now what am I supposed to do?" Lily said exasperatedly, throwing her hands up.

"What's wrong Lily?" Remus asked her, biting into an apple on his way back up the stairs.

"It's not your concern, Remus." She told him sourly, turning to follow AJ.

"What is _with_ the women in this house today?" He muttered aloud, walking away.

"Erica, we need to talk." Lily said, entering the room. With sticky situations, she felt it was best to be abrupt. Erica looked up from her homework and grinned.

"Are you breaking up with me Lils?" She asked.

"No…" Lily started hesitantly, "Daniel spread a rumor about you today."

"Oh?" Erica asked her, looking up from her vocab words once again with an interested look.

"Yeah, well, he said…he said that you had slept with him." Lily told her friend. She looked down at her toes.

Erica looked at her friend and started to laugh. Lily opened her eyes. "What's so funny? Did you not hear what I said?" Lily asked her.

"I heard you, Lily. But Daniel was just a fling, although longer lasting than other flings. I went out with him on a couple dates. I knew he'd probably spread this rumor, stupid boy that he is. But it's okay. Hand me the phone."

Lily tossed the phone to her friend, who looked up his number in the directory and dialed. She sat there waiting for it to ring. Finally she got his answering machine:

**Yo, this is Daniel's line and apparently I can't make it to**

**the phone right now or I just don't feel like answering. **

**Either way, leave me your number and I'll give you**

**a call. Later!**

Erica began to speak, "Hi Daniel, this is Erica. I was just calling to say that this rumor probably means that were not going out anymore. No worries, I'll find someone new. Have a lovely holiday!" She hung up the phone and turned to Lily. "And that's how it's done." She grinned.

Arabella entered the room with a towel around her hair and another one around her body. "Why do you always feel the need to walk around in towels?" Brenna asked her, following her into the room and closing the door.

"So I can flash you all." Arabella replied, sliding the towel up so you could see her thigh. The girls covered their eyes in mock horror.

"Aaaahhhh. Stop, please stop." Erica pleaded with her friend, falling back on to the bed. Arabella grinned at her friends as she dropped her towel back down. "Oh," She said, sitting next to her friend quickly, "Did Lily tell you?" she asked. Erica looked at her and grinned.

"What? About your lesbian ways, or about how Daniel, my ex-fling, told the whole school I was easy?" Erica asked.

Arabella grinned, "Well it was about how Daniel, your ex-fling, told the whole school you were easy…but since you answered my question, let's address my lesbian tendencies." Arabella grinned and winked at her friend. Erica laughed and pushed her away.

"Oh, go, put some clothes on." Erica told her, picking up her vocab flashcards.

* * *

Arabella walked out of the examination hall with her friends. "Midterms are over." She exclaimed walking towards the parking lot grinning. Hunter appeared in front of her. "May I talk to her for a moment, ladies?" He asked, grabbed Arabella's arm and dragging her between a row of cars.

"What the hell was that? Don't ask my friends if you can talk to me! Ask _me_ if you can talk to me!" She ranted at him.

"Why are we going on a break?" He asked, completely ignoring her anger.

"Because, I need time to think some things over," she told him, turning to leave. He kept his grip on her arm.

"But AJ,_ I_ didn't do anything," he protested, gripping her arm harder.

"Well, you're judged by the company you keep." She again turned to leave.

"Then you and your _posse_ are some of the easiest girls in the school." He snarled. Arabella turned slowly back around to face him. She yanked her arm free from his grasp and, celebrating her newfound freedom, slapped him across the cheek.

"Don't _ever_ insult my friends." She told him fiercely, leaving to join said girls. "Come on let's go," She muttered, hopping into the car. Lily, Brenna, and Erica looked over to where Hunter stood, rubbing his cheek. "Does she work out just to beat up the weaker sex?" Brenna whispered to them. They laughed at the probability and walked over to the car.

* * *

Remus walked down the staircase, through the entrance hall towards the kitchen. He stopped walking when he saw Arabella sitting on a sofa in the lounge. She was rubbing her calves and flipping through _Vogue_ absentmindedly. Remus walked over and leaned against the doorframe to the room. He stood there for a couple of minutes looking at his watch.

Finally he opened his mouth. "Hey AJ. What's up?" She jumped at the sound of his voice. Seeing it was him, she grinned tiredly.

"Hey Remy." She flipped the page. "What's up with you?" She flipped another page.

Remus sat down in the lazy boy and put up his legs. He flipped on the television with the remote and swiveled his chair to face her. "I asked you first." He responded. He looked back at the TV.

"Oh, you know," she replied, "just reading some thought-provoking literature." She nodded her head along with the theme song that was playing on the set.

Remus grinned at her. "Sounds quality." He leaned back in the lazy boy.

"Undoubtedly. Though it lacks _Playboy_'s depth and interesting articles." She tossed _Vogue_ at him with a laugh and picked up _Cosmopolitan_.

He shrugged, "There are some good jokes in there."

Arabella raised her eyebrows at him. "Ah. _Now_ I understand its appeal," she said sarcastically. Remus shrugged and she laughed at him. "By the way, do you have plans tonight?" she asked, dog-earring her page to give him her full attention.

"Yep." Remus replied. He flipped off the TV and looked at her.

"Oh." She returned to her magazine and lay down on the couch. "So you're going to formal?" She She flipped the page and continued to read an article.

"No." he replied. He looked at her peculiarly.

She folded her page again and looked at him. "Oh really? What are your plans then?" She asked.

"I'm going clubbing with James and Peter."

"What about Black?" She asked, sounding surprised.

Remus looked at her intently. "As far as I know he's still going to the dance with Brenna," he said slowly. "Why?"

Arabella picked the magazine. "Oh, I was just wondering why he wasn't going with you lot. I mean, you practically never see one without the other. I forgot that he was taking Brenna to the dance entirely."

Remus smiled. "It's a bit nice, really."

Arabella looked at him. "And why's that?"

"Because it gives us a chance to actually pick up a few women for a change," he said.

Arabella laughed wryly. "I can only imagine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus asked, slightly offended.

"Nothing, Remus." She replied automatically. "What do you think _I_ should do tonight?"

"I thought you were going to the dance."

"I was…"

"_Why_ can't you go now?"

"Honestly! You boys are so daft. Hunter might be there." She replied matter-of-factly.

"Okay…I don't really see a connection..."

"We've just had a major fight. So now I can't see him for a while – I might forgive him too soon." She grinned at him. "Obviously."

"Obviously," he agreed. "But you never avoid Sirius after a row."

"It's not for lack of trying," Arabella countered.

"Touché." He saw her point.

"I need to do something tonight," she mused; she was not really addressing him.

"Well…I suppose you could come with us." Remus suggested.

She grinned at him. "Really? I wouldn't get in the way of any male bonding or anything?"

Remus looked at her appalled. "We are _not _'bonding'. Females bond. _Men_ compete to pick up the most chicks."

"And what manly men you are," She laughed. "Who wins the count?"

"Me." Remus said, pointing to himself.

"Well now that Black's in a relationship..."

"No." Remus huffed. "It has always been me. My soft, feathery hair. My soulful eyes. My _connection_ with the _ladies_." Remus winked.

"Merlin. You hang out with your friends too much, you know that right? You sounded just like Sirius. And I still don't believe you, just so we're clear."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Remus muttered as Arabella started to walk out of the room.

"Did you just use my first name behind my back?" Sirius asked, walking into the room.

"It's true." Remus replied.

"Don't get used to it." Arabella said.

Sirius held up his hands in surrender as he sat down on the recently-vacated lazy boy. He flipped on the telly.

"Remus, what should I wear?"

"Something that makes you look like somebody we'd date." Remus told her.

"Right, so a skank?" She replied.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sirius spun the chair around to face her. "One of your best friends is dating me."

"Well – oh, goddammit. It's a very bad error of judgment on her part, I must say...ruined a bloody good insult, too…well, I'm off – beauty calls." Arabella walked up the stairs to her room.

Remus watched her leave. After she was gone, he turned around and stared at Sirius. "You're in my chair."

Sirius turned away from the set and looked at Remus. "Uhuh. So where's she going anyhow?"

"With James, Peter, and me." Remus sat down on the couch and focused on the set.

"Oh, and – let me guess! – you invited her." Sirius stated it as more of a fact than a question.

"Your point? What show is this?" Remus looked at the screen, trying to change the subject.

Sirius shook his head at his friend; he was not so easily swayed. "It means you loooovvve her, moron. And I dunno." Sirius watched the people move across the screen.

"Ohhh, Remus loves who?" Lily asked, entering the room with Brenna and Erica at her heels. Brenna walked over and greeted Sirius with a peck on the cheek.

"Nobody. I love nobody." Remus answered quickly. He shifted uncomfortably and glared at Sirius. Sirius looked away from him and started trying to braid Brenna's hair.

"Oh fine," Lily replied. "Erica, what are you going to _do_ tonight?"

"I suppose AJ and I will figure something out. We haven't had a tête-à-tête for a while." Erica picked up the _Cosmo _that Arabella had abandoned.

"How do you know she's not going?" Remus asked.

"_Please_. She just had a huge fight with Hunter; she can't go in case she wants to get back together with him." Erica replied.

"_Astounding_ – the way girls think." Remus shook his head. "She's not staying here," he told them.

"Where's she going, then?" Lily asked Remus.

"Oh, Remus made plans with her." Sirius informed them, grinning smugly.

"Really?" Lily asked Remus, "She agreed to go on a date with you even though she's not even broken up with Hunter? That's…surprising."

"It's not a date." Remus said; he tried not to sound too upset about that. "She asked me what she should do tonight, so I invited her to go clubbing with James, Peter, and me. See? _Not_ a date."

"That sounds fun," Lily grinned.

"Huh!" Erica huffed, "what am I supposed to do now?"

"Go with them," Sirius suggested, finishing his work on Brenna's hair and tying it up with her hair band.

"I _suppose_ I could go. Can I, Remus?"

"Uhuh. It'd be fine. But now I think we need one more single girl to come with us - to make it even."

"Like a triple date?" Sirius asked Remus, winking.

"Not a date, Sirius." Remus replied with a warning tone. "And what the hell did you do to Brenna's hair?"

"What?" Brenna shrieked. She felt along her hair and laughed. "Yeah…sweetie, I don't think you should try to do anything to my hair for a while."

Sirius stuck up his head in feigned indignation. "Here I was, trying to do something nice for you, and you just go and insult me. That cold, babe." He put his hands over his heart and made a ripping motion.

Brenna laughed, "Anyways, Remus," She started as she undid her hair, "Do you _know_ any other single women?"

"No." Remus replied.

"Hellooo!" Lily called.

"Hi Lily," Remus greeted her.

She folded her arms across her chest. "I'm single." She informed him crossly.

"You're not single." Remus replied.

"Yes, I am."

"No you're not." Sirius replied.

"Yes I am!"

"No, you're not."

"Hush up, Sirius!" Lily warned.

"What happened to that Lee fellow?" Remus asked her.

"Oh." She blushed slightly. "We're just friends now."

"With benefits," Erica muttered. Lily burned redder.

"Really?" Sirius asked, interested. "Lily, do you want to be friends with me?"

"I _am_ right here." Brenna warned her boyfriend.

"Right," Sirius replied. "It's all you." He grinned and winked at Lily. Brenna hit him softly on the cheek.

"I can come too, right?" Lily asked.

"Certainly," Remus replied. "And dress like somebody we'd date."

"Right, so a skank," Erica clarified.

"Hey!" Brenna objected, following her friends out of the room.

"I do believe we have a bit of a reputation in the kind of girls we choose to date." Remus informed his friend.

"You don't say?" Sirius replied.

* * *

"Okay guys. So what do you think of this?" Arabella came out of the bathroom and spun around. The red dress she wore fell to her upper thigh and fluttered around her legs as she moved.

"_Much_ better than the last one you thought up," Brenna informed her.

"Yeah, you can say that Brenna; _you_ aren't going with her. How are we ever going to meet a nice bloke if the whole club is staring at her?" Erica informed Brenna.

"I'm just speaking the truth. Her dress looks good."

"First of all, don't talk about me like I'm not here." She waggled her finger at them in admonishment. "Secondly, it can't look that great, it's just a dress." Arabella had long been in the habit of denying her popular appeal.

"Uhuh," Lily did not sound convinced, "just a dress with spaghetti straps and sheer lace along the sides."

"Lily, have you seen _your_ dress? It's black, tight, and short." Arabella said, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Are we perhaps trying to impress a Mr. Potter?"

"As if," Lily retorted. "Brenna," she said, pointedly moving the conversation away from all things Potter, "don't you have to get ready?"

Brenna shrugged. "The dance starts at nine; I have time. Why are you getting dressed so early?"

"Remus said that the club's far away – it'll take us a while to get there." Arabella replied.

"Aren't 'far' and 'a while' relative terms?" Brenna asked.

"Obviously. But this place is so dull, is it any wonder the nearest club is a bit away?"

Brenna reply to Lily's comment was interrupted when Remus walked in the room. "Hey, I was just coming to see if…if um…er," he stopped midsentence and simply stared at Arabella, mouth slightly agape.

"Close your mouth." Erica ordered him, glaring at Brenna with an I-told-you-so look on her face.

"Huh? Oh, Right." Remus responded belatedly, snapping his jaw shut.

Arabella looked at Remus, oblivious. "If…" she prompted.

Remus looked away from Arabella. "Are you girls are ready to go?"

"Nearly. We just need a few more minutes." Arabella replied.

"Alright then," Remus still avoided looking at her. "Just come meet us in the entrance hall." He left the room quickly. The door shut with a snap behind him.

"Wonder what's wrong with him?" Arabella looked confused. "You don't think he's mad at me, do you?"

Erica, Brenna, and Lily looked at each other and started to laugh. "AJ, for somebody so smart, you are incredibly stupid." Erica informed her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you can't figure it out, I don't think we should tell you." Lily smiled, and Erica and Brenna nodded their heads in agreement.

Arabella put on her best pleading face. "_Please_ tell."

"We're not guys; looking pretty with puppy eyes isn't going to work on us." Brenna informed her.

Arabella frowned. "Harumph! I suppose we must be off. I hate you all." She stuck out her tongue.

* * *

"I hate women." Remus informed his friends as he sat down in the living room.

"It's about time that you told us. I can't believe you waited nearly seven years to come out." James sniggered, not turning his face from the tv.

"Oh, hush. That's not what I meant, and you bloody well know it." Remus replied.

"What'd you mean?" Peter asked, turning around.

"What he means is that he's in love with a certain someone and that certain someone is completely oblivious to his certain affections." Sirius informed James and Peter. He swiveled the lazy boy around to face the two.

"For that certain someone, of course." James continued.

"Certainly," Sirius agreed. He laughed with James. They turned back to the tv.

"That's not true." Remus replied, indignant. "I _do_ _not_ have any sort of 'certain affections' for anybody in this house, thank you very much."

"Alright, alright…Some people, eh Padfoot?" James grinned at his best friend.

"I couldn't agree more. If it's not love, then _why_ do you hate women?" Sirius asked.

"Well, because…Oh, stop being nosy. I have my reasons." Remus replied.

"I still maintain that it's because you're harboring a deep, dark a crush." Sirius informed him.

"And once again, I reply with a resounding shut up. You and Brenna are the only ones left going to the dance, eh?"

"Trying to change the subject, eh? Alright, then. Yes, we are the only people that are left going to the dance."

"What are you planning to do after the dance?" James asked, winking at his friend.

"Well –" Sirius started to respond before he turned sheet white, "we are going to go to bed, in our own, _separate_ rooms and fall asleep." He grinned sheepishly towards the doorway.

"Don't worry; I wouldn't do anything to you before going clubbing." Arabella grinned at Sirius form the doorframe, and spun around. "I look too good."

The Marauders couldn't have agreed more.

* * *

Brenna and Sirius stepped out of the car at the school parking lot. Sirius led Brenna up the steps and into the west gym, where music was already blasting. He grinned at Brenna and kissed her on the cheek. "Would you like to dance?" He asked, smiling charmingly.

Brenna grinned at him and nodded her head. Sirius led Brenna on to the dance floor.

"Sirius, isn't this a bit boring without our friends here?" Brenna asked her boyfriend tentatively after about five songs.

Sirius looked at her and grinned. "I'm so glad you said that! Would you like to go join our people at the club? I know where it is."

"Yes please. It's...oddly lonely here."

Brenna and Sirius left the gym and quickly made their way toward his car. "Hey Brenna? Do you think that Figg is ever going to figure out that Remus has a crush on her?" Sirius asked once they were both seated in the car.

"Oh! So it's true? Remus really _does_ have a crush on her?" Brenna turned to her boyfriend grinning.

"It is the biggest, most monstrous crush I have ever seen. He never acts this way. He's being so-"

"Nice?" Brenna offered.

"Well not really 'nice' per say. It's – well, I can't really describe it but it's the most bloody irritating thing."

"Why does it bug you so much?" Brenna asked. She turned to look at him.

Sirius grinned charmingly at her. "You _do_ look _ravishing_ this evening."

Brenna grinned at him and rolled her eyes. "I suppose you're not going to answer my question?"

"Evasion? Moi? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Brenna muttered, looking out the window.

* * *

Lily pulled into the parking lot of the club. The upbeat music was making the ground reverberate, and there stood a long queue of people standing outside of the club.

"We drove all the way here to wait in a giant line of people all night? _Fun_." Arabella muttered sarcastically as she got out of the car.

"No. We're Marauders; we don't wait." James replied. He ignored the line and walked to the front, followed by Remus and Peter. Arabella turned and looked at the two other girls. They shrugged and followed the boys.

"Hey Jeremy, my _man_! How's life been?" James greeted the man. "We still on the list?"

"Course you still on the list." Jeremy grinned. "And what jewels have you lured here tonight?"

Arabella grinned at the man. "I'm Arabella, but do call me AJ." Arabella informed to bouncer in a quiet, sultry voice.

"Well, well. It is just a pleasure to meet you Miss AJ. Are you thinkin' of comin' back to party on New Years? You _most certainly_ won't have to wait in line." Jeremy grinned at her lecherously.

Arabella smiled at him put then put on a small pout. "Oh no, I can't come. I'm having a New Year's Party. But if James had mentioned he knew somebody so handsome, I would have told him to invite you. Would you like to come?" Arabella asked, continuing on in her sultry hush.

"Well, it's always a busy night for us," Jeremy started. Arabella pouted slightly more. Jeremy saw her face and grinned. "But I suppose I could try to get off work a bit early and come along."

"That's fantastic!" Arabella grinned slightly at him as she scribbled the address on a napkin he handed her. "Remember, it's costume." She breathed in his ear as she walked past him into the club.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Remus asked Arabella as soon as they were inside the club out of Jeremy's earshot.

"You _are _still tied down." Erica added, surprised to be the voice of reason.

"Hey I didn't do anything. I just brought somebody to the party that would make Hunter a little bit jealous." Arabella laughed.

"Cruel much?" Remus asked Arabella with his arms crossed.

"It's not cruel!" James interjected. "It's bloody brilliant. We use that trick all the time, too."

Arabella grinned evilly at Remus. "Cruel much?" She asked him.

He looked at her and laughed. "No, I'm just bloody brilliant."

"That's what I thought." Arabella replied.

"Hello there! Is there anything I can get you?" A waitress chirped at the group. They turned around to face her. "Oh! James, Remus, Peter, it's so great to see you all." She squealed, giving each of the boys a hug.

"Hey Madison. How've you been?" James asked her, grinning.

"Oh, I've been just great. Getting a lot of big tips now, you know, around the holidays." She replied.

"Well then, don't let us to forget." Remus told her, grinning.

"_Believe_ me, I won't. So where's Sirius tonight?" Madison asked, smiling at them, and scanning the group, as if he were hiding behind them.

"Oh, he's out with his girlfriend." Peter squeaked. He smiled shyly at her. "You know Sirius."

"Oh, really? That's lovely." She responded, her smile faltering a little bit. "So, can I get you anything to drink tonight? You want the usual boys?"

"That would be lovely Maddie. Thank you." Remus grinned at the waitress. "Have you met our friends? This is Lily, Erica, and Arabella – call her AJ if you value your life," Remus pointed to each of the girls as he said their names. "Girls, this is Madison – the absolute best waitress at this club."

"Hi."

"Nice to meet you Maddie."

"Hi Madison," Arabella grinned at the waitress.

Madison grinned at her. "And what would you like to drink ladies?"

"Can I have a Margarita please?" Lily asked, smiling.

"And I'll have a Strawberry Daiquiri." Erica ordered also.

"Alright. What about you?"

"Oh. I'll have a coke please." Arabella asked, smiling at the waitress.

"Would you like rum in that?" Madison asked, jotting down the orders.

"No thanks; I'm fine." Arabella smiled politely.

"Bourbon girl, huh?"

"No. Just a coke girl, I guess," Arabella clarified. Madison nodded and headed towards the bar.

"Come here a bit?" Lily asked the guys, smirking slightly.

"Oh, once or twice." James responded, grinning.

Lily looked at James and laughed. "I'll bet." Erica and Arabella grinned at each other. Though Lily had maintained that James was poncy little prat for the past six years, they were nonetheless rooting for the pair to get together. Despite their frequent arguments, they were actually well suited.

A couple minutes later the waitress came back holding a tray with all their drinks. "Okay, let's see here. Here you go James, a scotch on the rocks – with a twist." Madison smiled and handed James his drink. "Gin and tonic for you Remus. Cognac for Peter. And let's see here. The Margarita's for you." Madison handed Lily her drink and smiled at her. "The Strawberry Daiquiri is for you. And the coke without any alcohol whatsoever is for you here." The waitress smiled at them and left.

Arabella raised her eyebrows after the waitress. "Okay then. She always like that?" Arabella asked the boys.

"It's just that alcohol is one of the club's real money makers, so it makes her life easier if everyone orders alcohol." Remus told her. He grinned and sipped his gin.

"Oh. I see then. So what do you want to do now?" She asked the group grinning.

"How about we dance?"

The whole group turned around. Arabella grinned. "Hello Lucius." She greeted the man behind her. At six two, Lucius Malfoy, with his silvery blonde hair and light silver-blue eyes, was quite good-looking, his inclination for evil aside.

"Dear AJ." He greeted her with a charming smile.

"How've you been this year?" Another man asked Arabella. He was slightly shorter than his friend, though rather more menacing.

"Much better since we've broken up Severus." Arabella replied. Despite her words, she winked and grinned slightly.

"Don't we look lovely this evening?" Yet another man asked her. He was almost the spitting image of Sirius, except that he stood a fair few inches shorter and had very dark green eyes instead of grey.

"Is that a question or a compliment?" She asked him leaning back against the railing.

"A compliment, of course." He replied his green eyes twinkling.

"Well then, thank you, Regulus."

"So would you like to dance?" Lucius asked again. He leaned against the rail next to her and gazed at her with his intoxicating cool manner.

"Love to." She replied. She handed her coke to Remus absentmindedly and followed Lucius down the stairs to the dance floor. Regulus and Snape followed them down, leading Bellatrix and Narcissa.

Remus frowned at the drink in his hand. "Don't you just hate Slytherins?" He muttered, downing the rest of his gin.

"That is the stupidest thing you've ever asked me Remus." James replied. "I still can't believe that she's gone out with all three of those blokes. Unthinkable."

"I can." Erica replied. "Lucius had a crush on her, Severus still does, and Regulus loves seeing his brother mad. Plus they do have this sinister attractive thing going on."

"Yeah," James replied in a tone that suggested he did not actually agree. "But why does she go out with them?"

"I dunno. Has a thing for Slytherins?" Lily suggested.

"Hey, you know the jealous thing we always used to do, James?" Remus asked suddenly.

"That's just a little bit random." Erica responded.

Remus looked at her. "Anyways, _James_, do you remember it ever working?"

"It always worked for me." James said, then realizing Remus's intentions, continued, "Remus, it's really not the smartest thing to try…"

Erica and Lily looked at Remus. "Honestly Remus. You are not seriously going to try to make her jealous? It won't work." Lily told him. She folded her arms across her chest.

Remus grinned at them, his eyes twinkling. "Now why would I do a thing like that?" He asked. He handed James Arabella's coke and walked over to a couple girls talking a ways down.

They watched him leave. Erica sighed. "That is the most incredibly stupid plan I've ever heard. There is no way AJ's going to get jealous."

"Oh well. I suppose there's nothing we can do to try and stop him." Lily sighed. "So, now what do you want to do?"

"I think I'll go feast on the nuts." Peter told them. He walked away towards the bar.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "That's always an option. Does anyone want to do anything else?" She asked the James and Erica.

"Dance?" Erica suggested.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

James led both girls down the stairs and into the center of the dance floor. "This is great. I get to dance with both of you. Now, if only you were twins…"

* * *

Sirius parked the car and helped Brenna out. "Do we have to wait in this line?" Brenna asked him.

"No," Sirius laughed, heading to the front of the line. "I come here much too much to have to wait."

"Hey Jeremy! How're things?" Sirius asked the bouncer, giving him a high five.

"Good, good. I'll be comin' to your New Year's party." He informed Sirius.

Sirius grinned at him. "Oh really? So James invited you?"

"Nope. It was the hottest girl they got with 'em. Said her name's AJ." Jeremy grinned at Sirius and unclipped the rope. "I see that you've picked up quite a fine lady yourself." Jeremy grinned at Brenna.

"It's Brenna." Brenna introduced herself to the bouncer.

"Nice to meet you, Brenna," Jeremy grinned at her and waved them into the club.

As soon as they entered, a waitress immediately came up and gave Sirius a hug. "Hey Sirius! Do you want the usual?" She asked, grinning as she tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"That would be lovely, thanks Madison." Sirius grinned at her.

"And you must be the girlfriend." Madison said, turning to Brenna.

"Hi. I'm Brenna." Brenna introduced herself again.

"I've heard about you. Would you like anything?" Madison asked her.

"Oh, thank you. A Margarita would be lovely." Brenna smiled.

"Okay then." Madison said, jotting down the order with a flourish. "A Rum and a Margarita coming right up. It was nice to see you again, Sirius," the waitress sighed as she walked to the bar.

"Alright," Sirius said to Brenna. "Why don't we star out search?"

"What about our drinks?"

"Oh don't worry, Brenna. Maddie will find us." Sirius reassured her. They walked over to the railing that overlooked the dance floor.

"Oh there's James, Erica, and Lily." Brenna pointed out. "Why's he dancing with both of them?"

"And people say I'm a player." Sirius murmured. "Probably because Peter is at the bar eating nuts again, and Remus is dancing with AJ." Sirius said louder, so that she could hear.

"Here you go guys. Have fun tonight." Madison interrupted them as she handed them their drinks.

"Thanks." Brenna said to the girl's retreating back.

"Anyways, do you want to go join James, Lily, and Erica?" Brenna asked Sirius. She took a sip of her Margarita.

"Yeah, since we can't find anyone else."

Sirius finished off his Rum and put the empty glass on a nearby table. Brenna placed her Margarita next to it and followed his lead down the staircase. "I think I've spotted Remus." She whispered in his ear when they reached the dance floor.

Sirius looked around and saw his friend dancing with two girls at the edge of the dance floor. "They aren't AJ."

"No."

Sirius sighed. "The jealous thing just won't work with her."

"What was that?" Brenna asked him, turning around.

"Nothing. Let's go find James and your girls."

After a couple minutes spent winding through the dance floor, they finally found James dancing with Brenna and Erica. "Hey." Lily rushed forward and hugged Brenna. "You guys left the dance?"

"Uhuh." Brenna replied. "It was wretchedly boring."

"Where's everybody else?" Sirius asked.

"Well, Peter went to eat at the bar." Erica started.

"_Knew_ it," Sirius cut in.

"And Remus went off to hit on some girls." James continued.

"Are they who he's dancing with?" Brenna asked.

"Likely, isn't it?" James replied.

"Is he trying to make AJ jealous?" Sirius asked.

James and Sirius exchanged looks of understanding. "He had this foolish idea that if he made her jealous, she would fall for him, or something ridiculously stupid like that."

"It won't work with her." Sirius said.

"We _did _try to warn him," Lily said earnestly, "but he was really determined."

"So where's she?" Sirius asked.

"Oh." Erica said, looking away. "Well, we ran into a few people we knew here."

"Is Hunter, and his whole little posse, here?" Sirius asked, looking around.

"That's not quite what we meant." James said.

"Well, could you please tell me what you mean then? It's not like I'll get mad. I could care less who she dances with." Sirius informed them.

"She's dancing with Malfoy." Erica announced quickly.

"Malfoy?" Sirius asked, taken aback and, despite his assertion, irritated.

"Not just Malfoy." James informed him. "See, there's Bellatrix and Narcissa up there on the balcony." James pointed up to the spot where the two girls were glaring down at the dance floor, rejecting the occasional muggle who approached them with waspish remarks. "By the looks of it she's also dancing with Snape and your little brother."

"What? Oh, that's just disgusting." Sirius looked thoroughly sickened by the thought. He shuddered.

"It's alright, Sirius. She's dated all of them before, she can handle it." Brenna said, trying to console her boyfriend.

"But not all at the same time. It's sick." He still looked a bit pale.

"Nothing we can do. Let's dance." Brenna said. She pulled Sirius's hand to her hips. Next to them, James pulled Lily and Erica together, and they started to dance.

* * *

Arabella followed Regulus up the stairs. "I really am sorry that you are stuck living with my brother for the rest of the school year."

"I think I would rather die than live in a house with him for a year." Snape added, sneering in disgust at the thought.

"So far I've survived. I _have_ lived in the same house for six years prior to this." She smiled.

"I don't know how you did it. Six years with the four of them." Lucius grinned at her.

"They're not as bad as I thought they were." Arabella told them.

"Still. It is my brother." Regulus muttered. Arabella laughed.

"I guess I'll see you guys some other time?" She asked them.

"I'll make sure of it." Regulus told her. He smiled charmingly at her and kissed her hand. "Goodnight, AJ."

"Goodnight." Snape smiled at her and also kissed her hand.

"Goodnight, my lovely AJ." Lucius smiled charismatically at her. He kissed her on the cheek and followed his friends out the door, holding it open for Narcissa and Bellatrix. Before leaving himself, he waved slightly and then let the door close behind him.

Arabella watched him leave. She turned around to find Lily, Erica, and Brenna watching her from the bar. She scurried over and hugged Brenna. "Hey! When did you get here?" She asked.

"A couple of hours ago." Brenna replied with a grin.

"And you didn't tell me?" Arabella asked in shock.

"Sorry. You were surrounded by three men."

Arabella grinned at her. "Actually, I wasn't surrounded. Technically, of course."

"It's all in the details," Lily replied, grinning. "You do realize that you still have a boyfriend?"

Arabella took a sip of her drink and grinned. "What's that supposed to mean? I didn't do anything. It's all in the details."

Lily, Erica, and Brenna laughed. "So, Brenna, why'd you leave? Did Black finally become intolerable?"

Brenna shook her head. "Don't sound too hopeful. He's here…somewhere. I'm still _dating_ him, you know –"

"Unfortunately," Arabella muttered. Lily and Erica laughed.

Even Brenna grinned. "I was just wretchedly bored without my friends."

"Awww," Arabella hugged her again. "As much as I would love to stay and talk about how wonderful I am, I do have to go to the restroom. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Arabella slid off the stool and walked down the stairs. She waved to a couple guys making catcalls and walked halfway around the dance floor to find the neon bathroom sign. She walked down the short hallway and turned down another. She walked past a couple photos, a mysterious brown spot, Sirius snogging the waitress, some graffiti…

Wait. She turned slowly. Oh.

She must have made some sort of noise in her shock because the two leapt apart. Arabella's jaw dropped open as she stared at Sirius in shock. He still had some lipstick smeared on his face.

* * *

**Special Thanks to:**

**SiriuslyPadfoot'sGal**- You live in Texas. That's awesome…I used to live there. Anyways. Thanks for your review. The idea about the subjects is really good, but it's a bit late in the story to add it. Maybe you should right a story like that. Thanks for the idea though and a whole lot for your review.

**Lunatic Pandora 1**- So sorry; I may have ruined all of the getting along. Please forgive me. Thanks for the review!

**hannahbanana616**- Thank you sooo much. You said the nicest things about my story. Yeah, I like it better when they wait a while to fall in love too. My favorites are love/hates (or rather hate/loves I suppose). Anyways, thanks sooo much for your review.

**Lily of the Valley23**- I'm really glad you liked my story sooo much. I'm really sorry that this chapter took me so long to update. At least it's a long chapter to make up for it. It's like 30 pages long. Thanks for your review.


	9. Animagus Discovery

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 9 – Animagus Discoveries~

"_We dance round in a ring and suppose, while the secret sits in the middle and knows__" ~ Robert Frost_

Arabella stood with her mouth hanging agape at the scene. She stared at Sirius frozen in shock and horror. After of few moments of shocked silence, the waitress cleared her throat and finished straightening out her uniform. "Would you like another drink?" She asked Arabella.

Arabella looked at her and raised her eyebrow. "Thanks, I'm fine." She replied snappily with a sarcastic sneer. Madison smiled and hurriedly slipped past Arabella, scurrying down the hall.

Arabella turned her cool gaze to Sirius. She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her fingers against her arm, waiting for an answer. "It's not what it looks like." He told her immediately. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and shook his black hair out of his eyes.

Arabella sighed and stamped her foot agitatedly. "Why do guys _always_ say that? Alright, _Black_, how could it not be what it looks like? What, exactly, _were_ you doing then?" Her blue eyes seemed to bore into him, and she shook her head furiously.

"Nothing! We weren't doing anything at all." Sirius replied. He drew himself up to his full stature, which was a good five inches above her head, even with her heels on, and looked down at her.

Arabella narrowed her eyes. "Oh, my mistake then. So why did Madison leave in such a rush, and why are you acting so guilty? Honestly, what did you expect me to believe? That there was something on your face and she was just being kind and getting it off for you?" Arabella shook her hair out of her face and continued to glare at him.

"Would you even believe me if I said 'yes'?" Sirius asked her. Arabella narrowed her eyes and moved her fists as if to punch him. He grabbed both of her fists with his hands. She tightened her jaw and tried to pull away, but he held fast. A devilish twinkle flickered through the grey depths of his eyes, and he smiled charmingly at her. "Well, well, ma Belle, it seems to me that you have gotten yourself into quiet a sticky situation."

Arabella smirked at him. "Is that so? I was just about to say the same thing for you. You were down in a club, making out with some waitress, and one of your girlfriend's _best friends_ discovers you. Do you really think that there is even a slight chance that she won't find out about it?"

Sirius smiled back at her. "Actually, I do. Because _you_ aren't going to tell her."

"Of course I'm going to tell her!"

"Oh really? Do you honestly think that she'll believe you? She knows, everyone knows, that you have a…strong dislike of me –"

"Try 'hate' or 'loathe'." Arabella interjected.

"Of course. And you haven't really been…er…_supportive_ of me dating her. Do you really think that she'll believe you, ma Belle?"

"With your record I can't see why not." Arabella lifted up her knee to kick him in the…family jewels…but Sirius side-stepped the attack and spun her around so she was now against the wall.

Sirius smiled at her again. "Now, now, ma Belle, it's not nice to hit." Arabella gave him a withering look. He took a step back from her. "Please don't tell Brenna."

Arabella arched her eyebrow at him in her characteristic display of disdain and smirked. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tell her."

"I'll give you two." He replied. "While the number one reason still remains that it is very doubtful that she'll believe you in the first place, the second reason is nearly as good. I made one drunken mistake, and it will only happen once."

"Only once? Have you forgotten the reason why every single one of your relationships has ended? You've cheated on every single girl that you have ever dated!" Arabella said exasperatedly.

"This is the first, and only – I promise – time that I have cheated on Brenna." Sirius responded loudly.

"It had sure better be Black!" Arabella hissed at him. She yanked her arms free and walked down the hallway. Sirius watched her go, feeling a deep sort of misery in his gut that, try as he might, he couldn't entirely convince himself was because of either Madison or Brenna.

* * *

_'Do you really think that she'll believe you ma Belle? Do you really think that she'll believe you ma Belle?'_

Arabella groaned and rubbed her temples. "Please get out of my head Black." She muttered and pushed her covers off of her. She sat up in bed and looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand. "Ughhh." She groaned. "3:15? I didn't even know there was a 3:15. This is way too God-damned early in the morning for me." She slowly hung her feet over the bed and stood up on the wooden floor. She shivered and muttered something along the lines of 'Goddamned cold floor.' She had felt very inclined to damn things of late.

Arabella slipped quietly out of the room and walked down the hallway. When she stepped onto the first stair, it made a loud creaking noise that seemed to reverberate through the house. She stopped moving and looked around the area to see if she had woken anyone. Slowly she started walking down the staircase. When she got to the bottom, there was a loud bang as something hit the stairwell and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Jumpy, aren't we, ma Belle?"

Arabella sighed and turned around. "Oh God." She muttered. This was really the last thing she needed.

"No. Not God – it's Sirius." Sirius informed her. "Did you not recognize me? Don't worry; it's an easy mistake to make."

Arabella groaned. "Oh, for Merlin's bleeding sake," She muttered under her breath and stifled a yawn. "It is way too early in the morning for you.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't wake up at this hour." Sirius suggested. He walked down the stairs towards her.

"Trust me. Had I known that you would be here, I would have locked myself in my room and not come out for the rest of the week."

"Well, by all means, don't let me stop you, ma Belle." He stepped to the side of the stairs and motioned to her room.

Arabella rolled her eyes and walked towards the coat rack hanging in the entrance. "What are you even doing here?" She asked him, and she put on her coat.

"I could ask you the same question." He replied. He finished making his way down the stairs and walked towards the coat rack as well.

"I'll just tell you." Arabella replied, wrapping a scarf around her neck. "I was planning to take a walk in the cool night air and clear my head." She slipped on a warm pair of Ugg boots, an interesting mix of muggle brilliance and great hideousness, and started walking away. She was always walking away from him.

Sirius slipped on shoes, grabbed a coat, and started following her, with the explanation, "It's not safe for a woman to walk alone at night." He jogged to catch up with her and started walking in stride with her.

Arabella turned towards him and raised her eyebrow. "In our yard? Trust me, I think I'll live." She opened the door and looked at a frosty white layer of snow covering the ground. She grinned at the unmarked snow and laid down to make a snow angel.

"Well our backyard isn't fenced. There could be rapists or killers hiding in the bushes around this yard." Sirius informed her, eyes searching the darkness for the aforementioned malcontents. He stood at her feet and looked down at her. "What the hell are you doing, anyways?"

"I'm making a snow angel."

"Ahhh. The only time you're an angel." He replied.

Arabella rolled her eyes and stood up. "Why do you even care if there are rapists or killers on the grounds anyways? Couldn't you care less what happens to me?" She started walking away, making tracks in the snow.

Sirius followed her. "Rapists and killers are a threat to society."

"So you're a big damn hero, then? I see. Is searching the yard at three in the morning for threats to society is just standard procedure?" She paused for a moment and looked at the quiet white scene before her. "Well, I don't see any rapists or murderers so could you please go now? It's a far worse fate to be inflicted with your company."

Sirius shook his head. "No. It's not safe for a woman to be out walking alone at night. We are not all that far from the city."

Arabella groaned and turned to face him. "Black! I'm fine. There is _nobody_ lurking in our backyard. I am seriously fine. Now could you please go inside? You're really irritating me."

Sirius grinned. "Well, that's just icing on the cake." He murmured.

Arabella turned to him. "Could you be any more obnoxious?"

Sirius pouted at her. "I can't believe that you are so ungrateful about my trying to protect you from the rapists and killers lurking in our garden."

Arabella rolled her eyes and walked towards the frosty willow tree hanging over the frozen pond. It was hopeless, arguing with him. Sure enough, Sirius followed her. "Black!" Arabella snapped. "Can you not get it through your thick head that I'm mad at you? Hello! I caught you cheating on my best friend!"

Sirius looked at her nonchalantly. "I told you I was drunk. Besides Madison was coming on to me very strongly. She fancies me."

Arabella shook her head in disgust, then fixed him with her very best glare. "So every time a girl smiles at you you're going to get drunk and cheat on your girlfriend? What in the name of Merlin's beard do women see in you?"

"Do you want me to answer that?" He asked her. Arabella turned her head slowly and gave him a deadly look. "I suppose not. And listen, ma Belle, I am very sorry. But you must be one of the least perceptive people in all of England. Everyone can see that Madison is in to me. So just so you know, she came on to me, she initiated it, and I will never, ever cheat on Brenna again."

Arabella looked at him. It was no use. "Fine," she said grudgingly. She sunk down on to the ground and looked at the frozen pond. "What…"

"Yes?" Sirius asked her he sat down on the bench.

Arabella looked up at him. "Why do …why do you think that Brenna won't believe me?"

Sirius looked into her eyes and shivered – she looked so sincere. He quickly looked away. "Because she won't want to believe you."

Arabella looked at him. "Oh, I do suppose your right, infuriating as that may be." She grinned slightly and walked away. Sirius jumped up and followed her. Arabella turned around to look at him. She shook her head slowly and rolled her eyes. "Oh, come off it, I'm fine. There aren't any people, bad or no, hiding in the garden."

Sirius looked at her. "Sorry. I can't leave a woman all alone at night." Then he grinned at his unintentional double entendre.

Arabella ignored his second meaning. "Oh for Christ's sake, I'm not a defenseless creature."

"Oh trust me, I know." Sirius rubbed his shoulder. "How could I forget? But I just can't leave you all alone out here at night."

"I hate chivalry." Arabella muttered. "You know, I wasn't planning on being alone tonight."

"Really?" Sirius asked. He grinned and raised his eyebrows. "And who was planning to join you? Hunter? Jeremy?" Sirius paused and he scowled. "My brother?"

"No. Honestly that's not what I – wait…How do you know about Jeremy?"

"Because I ran into him and he told me that you invited him to the New Year's party."

"Well it's not any of those people. I was hoping to take this damned dog-grim-thing for a walk." Arabella shivered and she pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

Sirius froze. _'Fuck.'_ He looked at her and saw that she was shaking. "Here." He offered her, walking forward and wrapping his coat around her. It was huge on her.

"No, I'm fine." She shrugged of the coat and kept walking.

"No seriously, you need it." Sirius picked up the coat and put it on her again.

She looked at him and shook her head. "Fine," she sighed. The boy was impossible.

Sirius looked at his coat, which was bagging around her. "Merlin, you're thin." He muttered.

Arabella looked down, wondering what he meant. Deciding he was just being an arse, she looked up and arched her eyebrow at him. "Have you ever heard of 'think before you speak'?"

Sirius grinned guiltily at her. "So if you have a dog-grim-thing, how come we've never see it?" Arabella looked at him and kept walking. Sirius jogged to catch up. "Well?"

"I'm not going to say. It sounds a bit stupid."

Sirius looked at her. "And since when have you cared what I think?"

Arabella looked as if she was calculating. She grinned. "Since never actually."

Sirius frowned. "Really? Not _ever_?"

Arabella grinned. "Never."

Sirius looked slightly disappointed. "Anyways, why haven't we seen this dog?" _'I mean besides the obvious fact that I'm the dog.'_

"Well," Arabella began, "I only see him at night."

"Right. So the imaginary dog was going to protect you from the rapists and killers hidden in our yard, ma Belle."

"Oh shut up! There aren't any rapists or killers lurking in our yard." She paused for a moment. "And quit calling me that!"

Sirius grinned. "Why, ma Belle? Does it bother you for some reason?" Arabella gave him a threatening look and he backed away. "Right. So you were saying something about a dog?"

"Yes and you were busy mocking it." She replied pointedly.

"So anyways…a dog?"

Arabella laughed wryly. "Uhuh. He's a big black dog with the strangest grey eyes…" She slowed down as she was talking and looked at Sirius's eyes. "Like yours." She continued warily. She looked at him strangely. "And he is only here when you and I have been in a big fight."

'_Oh shit.'_ Sirius thought uneasily. He looked at her and backed away slightly. "So, ma Belle, I guess you invented the dog to get over our fights." He smiled charmingly.

Arabella looked lost in thought. "The dog's coat looks exactly like his hair, same eyes too…Black!" She snapped, coming back to the world. "You're an illegal animagus aren't you?" She stared at him, her eyes seeming to bore hole through him.

It took all of Sirius's will power not to back away. He took a small step closer and smiled charmingly at her. "Ma Belle," he began, tracing his fingers down her side, "Why on earth would think that?" He took another small step, closing the gap between them. _'This had better work. No way can she know.'_ He thought desperately.

Arabella snatched his hand off her side and stepped forward. "Don't…ever…touch…me!" She warned him.

Sirius grinned and pulled her closer. "You look cold, ma Belle."

"It makes perfect sense, now that I think about it." Arabella informed him. She glared at him and tried to pull away. "It only takes you an hour to go to Hogsmeade and back, when it should take you at least two, even with your stupid little tunnels." She shivered slightly and Sirius moved his hand lower on her back. He grinned at her and Arabella jumped away from him. "For Merlin's sake, get off me, Black!" She pulled away from his arms but he held her tightly.

'_Shit. It's not working.'_ "Only if you go inside. You're shaking." Sirius informed her. He rubbed his hands up and down on her arms.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, still trying the pull away. He was much too close; it was dizzying.

"This creates friction. Honestly. You're shivering. Go inside."

"Don't tell me what to do." She paused and shivered. The wind picked up and blew her hair across her face. She swiped it away furiously. "Tell me. You're an animagus, aren't you? You're the dog."

Sirius rubbed her arms. He shivered slightly at the look she was giving him. _'If looks could kill…'_ The wind picked up again and went whistling eerily through the trees. He pushed his wavy black hair out of his eyes and sighed.

Arabella's eyes widened and then narrowed into slits. "I knew it – Oh my God! I've talked to you!" She looked thoroughly sickened by the thought and as if she was nearly about to faint.

"And what lovely conversations they were, ma Belle." He grinned at her and pulled her closer. _'What are you doing? She already knows, you can't make her forget'_

"You ass! Get off me!" Arabella furiously pulled his arms off her and pounded against his chest. She threw off the coat and went storming across the snow covered grounds back to the house. Sirius picked up and the coat up off the ground and started walking back towards the house.

* * *

Arabella got out of the shower and opened up her bedroom door. She shook her head at the sleeping figures of her friends. _'And they say that I'm lazy and sleep too much.'_ She thought as she walked across the room towards her closet. "Something slightly festivus." She muttered quietly to herself. "Black tights to keep me warm, red pleated skirt for fashion, black tank top, and a white sweater." She looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Ummm, not so much. What was I thinking? I looked like my mom dressed me." She paused. "No actually, my mom wouldn't ever make me wear this."

After about thirty minutes of various ideas, she settled on jeans and a green satin shirt with purple lace. She looked around the room. Her friends were still sleeping. With a sigh, she walked over to her stereo. "Let's see here…lovely, my favorite." She said, selecting a CD. She started blasting the music and her friends fairly jumped out of their beds.

Lily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked at her best friend. She sighed. "Sometimes I really hate you."

"_Must_ you?" Erica asked Arabella grumpily.

"Couldn't your inconsideration wait till later in the day?" Brenna agreed groggily. She rubbed her eyes and walked across the room. "I'm going to shower." She muttered and shut the door to the bathroom.

"I'm going to go eat breakfast." Arabella informed the remaining girls with a shrug.

"Wait a moment and I'll walk with you. I want to see if I can borrow their shower." Lily said, following her friend to the door.

"And I'm gonna go back to bed." Erica yawned as they shut the door.

"Sleep well?" Lily asked Arabella, covering another yawn.

"Hardly. I'm sooo tired." Arabella moaned and stifled an even bigger yawn. "What about you? Did you dream of fairies and sugarplums and snogging Potter in a broom closet?" Arabella asked her friend, becoming more upbeat.

Lily shoved Arabella into a wall and laughed. "I slept quite well – no nightmares to speak of. Later!"

Arabella waved slightly and continued walking towards the kitchen. When she entered the kitchen, she grinned at Remus and gave him a little half-hug. "Hey Remy, do you know if the rest of the boys are awake yet?"

Remus shook his head. "No, I slept in a different room last night. Why?"

Arabella popped her toast into the toaster. "Oh Lily, went to take a shower in your room, and I was just wondering if they had yet awakened from their peaceful slumbers." She grinned at him and put the kettle on the stove.

"You seem awfully cheerful this morning." Remus commented. He flipped the page in his newspaper and kept reading.

"Oh really?" Arabella asked, sitting across from him. "What makes you say that?"

Remus sipped his coffee and looked up at her. "You're humming." He informed her. He took another sip of his coffee and looked back down at his paper.

"I am?" Arabella asked him. "Hmmm, I didn't realize..." She got up and got her toast and tea and sat down across from Remus again. "So what time did you guys get in last night?"

Remus took another sip of his coffee and glanced at her. "Around 2:30. You?"

"1:00." Arabella replied.

"Remus Lupin! You left me in that room all alone. I couldn't find the kitchen, so I had to ask that Black fellow." A tall blonde announced as she whipped into the room, sporting a short blue shirt.

Arabella raised her eyebrows. "I suppose the boys are awake then." She grinned at Remus and got up to put her plate away.

The blonde jumped at the sound of Arabella's voice. "Who's she?" She asked Remus, jabbing her thumb in Arabella's direction.

"Calm down." Arabella said, turning around. "Couldn't you just ask me who I am?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Fine," she snapped. "Well? Who are you then? And Remus, what are all of these women doing here? I don't remember them coming home with us."

"We live here. That's what all of the other women are doing here." Arabella explained to the girl.

"Well, have you ever dated Remus?" The blonde asked.

"Oh Merlin, no. Remus and I are just friends. I'm A.J." Arabella introduced herself and stuck out her hand.

"'Merlin'? I've never heard that one before." She looked Arabella up and down as if assessing how bizarre she was. She apparently decided that she wasn't enough of a loser to blow off entirely because she finally took Arabella's proffered hand. "It's so nice to meet you. I really thought that Remus had cheated on me already. I'm Renee."

Arabella smiled slightly. She gave Remus a look over the girl's head. "Lovely to meet you."

Renee smiled stiffly. "Okay. Remus? Can you please call a cab? I'm gonna go get dressed." She left the room and headed up the stairs.

Arabella's eyes grew really wide when she left. "So she's a keeper, huh?" She grinned at Remus and tried to hide her laughter.

"We'll see." Remus replied and shrugged nonchalantly. He put his cup in the sink and folded up his newspaper.

Arabella rolled her eyes. "What a typical bloke you are, Remus." She muttered, but she was smiling. "After she leaves, do you think that you and the boys could go cut down our tree? I think I saw a Douglas Fir outback."

"Uhuh." Remus replied.

Arabella grinned at him. "Thanks." She left the kitchen.

* * *

"Why are there already footsteps outside?" James asked when he opened the door to the back. "Nobody's gone outside yet, have they? I mean," he shivered, "they'd have to be mad to."

"I went out at three." Sirius informed his friends. He stepped outside and his friends followed him.

"Well obviously not alone. There're two sets of tracks here." Remus pointed to the ground where, indeed, there were two sets of tracks. "Who were you with?"

Sirius frowned at his friend. "Who are you? Nancy Drew?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Actually Padfoot, he was going more for Sherlock Holmes." James informed his friend. They laughed, and Remus just shook his head.

"So who were you with Padfoot?" Peter asked, dragging the sled behind him.

"Oh, so now you're on my back too?" Sirius asked, looking down at Peter, who shrugged calmly. "Well, I suppose I could tell you, if you really want to know, of course." He paused for dramatic effect. "I had a nice walk and a _lovely_ chat with Arabella Figg."

His three fellow Marauders stopped dead in their tracks as they hit the brick wall of shock. For a good while, it was all they could do to stand stock-still and gape at Sirius with weird expressions on their faces. "Really?" James asked finally. Sirius nodded his head. "And," James continued slowly, "it was actually a talk and not a screaming match?"

"There was some screaming involved." Sirius admitted. His friends sighed in relief at the return to normalcy and kept walking.

"Why was there screaming involved?" Peter asked. Out the entire Hogwarts population, he remained one of the few still concerned with the details of their rows. Peter liked to be entertained.

"Well you see, Wormtail, it was mostly on her part – no surprise there, though. Apparently, she's mad at me – again no surprise – because of a slight mishap. You see, for some, still unclear, reason, she was walking to the bathroom, and, apparently, she caught me doing something that is…generally considered unhealthy for a relationship."

"What did you do?" Remus asked slowly. He enunciated every word carefully.

"Nothing," Sirius replied automatically. His friends gave him the look. Sirius stared right back. "That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Last thing I need is for Mr. High Morals over here to jump down my throat."

"I'm not anymore." Remus replied sadly as they walked through the snow.

His friends looked at him for a moment, curious as to what he meant. "Ohhh," James exclaimed. It dawned on him what Remus was talking about. "You mean that girl that came home with us? Rachel?" James asked.

"Renee." Remus corrected half-heartedly.

"Well, see you're not bad as bad as us, Moony." Sirius said, doing his best to cheer up his friend. He always took these things so emotionally. "_You_ still know her name at least. Which is really more than I can say for us."

Remus looked thoroughly relieved.

"Anyways, what _did_ you do?" Peter asked Sirius curiously.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sirius asked playfully, skirting around the subject.

"I imagine that's why he asked." Remus replied dryly. Sirius gave him a dirty look and tapped the tree they had arrived at. "Is this the tree she was talking about?"

"I dunno." James replied, completely unhelpfully. Plants without magical properties were not usually addressed in Herbology. "It looks enough like a Christmas tree to me."

Sirius nodded and began to chop it down. "How – does – she – know – so – much – about – trees," he paused to readjust the way he was holding the ax, "anyways?" The tree gave an enormous groan and fell over. "Maybe she should be in Hufflepuff?" He suggested.

James and Remus looked up from where they where tying the tree to the sled. "I don't reckon she would like to hear you say that." James muttered.

"Why not?" Sirius asked defensively. "She's dated plenty of them."

His friends let out a collective sigh. "How do all conversations lead back to who she's dated?" Remus asked rhetorically.

"Most certainly not because it's a fascinating subject," Peter replied.

Sirius began lugging the sled back up to the house. "You'd feel different if we were talking about who Lily's dated." Sirius replied, glancing at James.

James cheeks blushed pink, which stood out remarkably against the snow. "She's only dated two people." He replied.

"They were both in Ravenclaw though. You don't stand a chance." Sirius informed his friend in a matter of fact tone.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Padfoot." Remus interjected. "She hasn't been particularly rude to him for a while. And she sometimes forgets to yell at him for his flaws. I think it's because you and AJ are about all the explosiveness we can take."

Sirius's lip curled, and they did not speak for the rest of the way to the house. After what felt like an impossible journey, they finally got to the back porch and dragged the tree through the doorway.

"Oh, good! Here I'll put it in the stand." Arabella grinned and took the tree from them, doing as promised and putting it in the stand.

"Nice." Lily looked at James. "You're letting some poor girl carry a _giant_ tree to its stand and you're just _standing_ here."

"Arabella's no 'poor girl'," James countered. "And I'm tired. I just cut down the tree!"

"No you didn't!" Sirius objected. "I did!"

Lily shook her head at James and laughed. "Smooth, you are."

* * *

Arabella sat by the Christmas tree. She was playing with a branch and staring absentmindedly at the lights. Remus spotted her and walked into the room. She didn't even notice that he was there.

"Are you all right AJ?" He asked her, slightly worried.

Arabella jumped at the sound of her voice. Remus grinned at her. "Don't _do_ that!" She reprimanded him, slightly grinning. Remus laughed. "Are you laughing at me?" She asked him.

Remus shook his head. "Me? How rude of you to suggest." Arabella rolled her eyes at him. "So what's up?" He asked her. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the coffee table.

"Oh, I was just thinking." She replied vaguely.

"Well _that_ was obvious." Remus informed her.

Arabella grinned at him. "The reason people think," she informed him, "is so that other people don't know what it's about." Arabella got off the couch and walked over to the entrance hall, looking over her shoulder at him. "Good night, Remus."

* * *

**Special Thanks To:**

**DarkKestralSilkeQueen**: I updated quickly…well kind of at least. Anyways I decided not to have her beat him up this time…Don't know why…Anyways, thanks for your review.

**HulaHomer**: I'm glad you liked the cliffhanger. I thought it was a good cliffhanger too. This one…doesn't even have a cliffhanger. I'm glad you like my story and my style! Thanks for your review.

**Cine (loves Sirius)**: Hope this slaked some of your curiosity. Thanks for reviewing!

**sblackslady**: If you're still alive here's the new Chapter. Yeah, this isn't a really good chapter to have after such a cliffhanger. Sorry about that. Thanks for your review!


	10. Two Betrayals

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 10 – Two Betrayals~

"_WE WERE ON A BREAK!" ~ Ross Gellar_

Sirius Black rolled out of bed. He could smell – sweet Merlin, was that _bacon_? – wafting through the air. Quickly, he grabbed a pair of jeans off of the floor and pulled them on over his plaid boxer shorts. He walked over to a sleeping James and shook him on the shoulder. James swatted at him and rolled over.

Remus blinked his golden eyes. He could see Sirius standing over James holding a glass of water. He blinked a few more times. "Padfoot? What _are_ you doing?" He asked, though he had an inkling as to where this was going. He stifled a yawn.

Sirius looked over at him with an impish grin across his face. "I am trying to wake up Prongs." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Remus shook his head. "Couldn't you at least have _tried_ to wake me up first?" He asked. He pulled himself quickly out of bed and pulled on a green shirt and the cleanest pair of jeans he could find.

Sirius looked at him. "Nah. You're easy to get up. And Wormtail? Well he can sleep through just about anything." Sirius replied. He looked down at James and his grin widened in a way that could only be described as 'somewhat evilly'. "Prongs here, on the other hand, always gets up if you splash him with cold water." He paused for a second. "JAMES WILLIAM POTTER THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GET UP!" He shouted loudly. Very loudly.

Remus covered his ears and gave Sirius a wry look. Peter fell out of his bed with a loud 'thump'. He stood up slowly, rubbing his backside. "Apparently, he does get up easier than Prongs." Sirius commented with a shrug. He looked down at James, who was blinking and feeling around his nightstand for his glasses. Sirius poured the glass of water on him.

James jammed his glasses onto his nose and stood staring at Sirius with a very angry look on his face. Sirius grinned at him and, before he could be mortally wounded, fled the room. James ran after him, yelling an assortment of colourful curses and threats. "Shall we go too, then?" Remus asked Peter calmly.

"I suppose." Peter replied, still somewhat bleary. He finished pulling on his blue sweats. "Should we grab clothes for James? I imagine that he won't want to wander around in his boxers for very long." Remus grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt off of a chair and left the room. Peter followed him quickly, for he had smelled the food.

Sirius burst into the kitchen and hid behind Brenna, who was currently flipping pancakes. "Hide me!" He ordered her dramatically as James came whipping into the room. "Well 'Hello!' to you to." Brenna replied, flipping another pancake.

"Sirius Black!" James roared, spying his friend. He pushed his wet hair out of his face, sending droplets of water flying across the kitchen, and glared furiously at his friend. Sirius moved further into the kitchen, very happy for the marble island that was currently separating his best friend from him. "What the hell was that for? I was already awake!" He yelled, really rather angry. It was only a spot of water. Sirius backed up. James jumped onto the island and started striding towards Sirius.

Sirius yelped and tried to hind behind Arabella. "_Don't_ touch me." She warned him.

Remus and Peter walked into the room, surveying the scene. Remus looked down to the camera lying on the hall table and back to the kitchen. He grinned evilly, an ability he'd so aptly picked up from Sirius, and took a picture of the chaos – documentation for future generations.

* * *

Remus looked up to see James and Sirius glaring across the table at him. _Still_. "Will you two just get over it already?" He asked them, taking a bite out the delicious masterpiece that was bacon.

"No." Sirius replied bitterly.

"Why would you take a picture?" James asked, just as sourly. "I look like a stripper."

"And _I_ look like a coward." Sirius added.

"Maybe because you _are_ a coward Sirius," Remus muttered taking a sip of his glass.

Sirius narrowed his eyes and offered Remus an offended look. "I _am_ a Gryffindor aren't I?"

"More because you're trying to go against your family," James replied.

Sirius looked at him. "Traitor, you are. Besides, you've met my family. Can you really blame me?" James shrugged and continued to eat.

Arabella opened her mouth to say something and winced. "Owww! _What_ was that for?" She asked Brenna, glaring at her. The boys stopped talking and looked at the girls, noticing them for the first time. Brenna looked over at Sirius and Arabella's eyes followed her gaze. "I wasn't going to say anything about _that_." She informed her in an exasperated voice. "I was just going to ask them to pass the jam. For my toast!" She finished with a flourish, picking up her toast and waving it for Brenna to see. Remus handed her the jam. "Thank you Remus." Arabella said pointedly, still glaring at Brenna.

Brenna looked highly relieved and smiled. Sirius, however, looked disgruntled. "What were you trying to stop her from saying?" He asked Brenna accusingly. Lily noticed the nervous look on Brenna's face and butted into the conversation. "You heard. AJ was asking you to pass the jam." Sirius glared at Lily. "I know that. I meant, what did you imagine Figg was going to say that you were so desperate to stop?"

The table became extraordinarily quiet and still. Remus bit his lip, Erica quit twirling her hair around her forefinger, and Peter forgot about the bacon he was holding halfway between the plate and his mouth. Sirius stared at Arabella intently, as did Brenna; Sirius with a look of annoyance, Brenna with one of pleading. Arabella aptly avoided everyone's gaze, spreading the jam over her toast, which appeared to be taking a considerable amount of concentration. Finally, she looked up. Sirius was still gazing at her keenly. "Er…" She began slowly, and then sighed. "Of course we all think you're brave." She finished hastily, standing up and shooting Brenna a you-owe-me-big-time look.

She quickly stood up from the table and patted Sirius on the head, while glaring meaningful daggers at Brenna over the top of his head. Brenna stood up to follow her and Arabella wiped her hands disgustedly on her jeans. Sirius noticed this act and stood up to pursue Arabella. "You're disgusted that you touched me, but you've kissed Snivellus?" He asked her incredulously.

"Just drop it Sirius." Remus warned, under his breath.

"Why does everything _always_ have to come back to who I've dated?" She asked him, the ire mounting in her voice. Sirius still glowered at her, clearly waiting for her reply. "Oh honestly Black, get over it!" She snapped at him. "Severus is a much more attractive man than you'll ever be!" James and Sirius both looked at her aghast; they had never heard any person ever tell Sirius that someone was better looking than him, especially not Snape. Even the others looked slightly stunned. "Isn't that going a bit far?" Lily asked quietly. Arabella gave her best friend a deadly look. "Clearly not," Lily muttered under her breath.

"What!" Sirius asked, finally regaining his voice. He sounded more alarmed that angry. "You can't be serious? That git's the most disgusting creature I have ever seen." As he talked, his voice grew louder and louder.

"Yeah?" Arabella asked him. Her voice, in contrast, was becoming maliciously quiet. "Do you want to know who's even better looking than Severus?" Sirius did not answer her as he had mysteriously seemed to have developed a case of lock jaw. Arabella's voice grew even softer, and would have more hard to hear if the room was not tense with silence. "Regulus." She breathed in a low whisper. Sirius turned pale and stood frozen to where he stood. Arabella smirked at him and sauntered out of the dining area. The room was quiet.

"Well…" Lily said, clearing her throat. "Shall I go fetch her?" She did not wait for a reply and quickly scurried out of the room, followed closely by Erica.

* * *

Arabella and Sirius sat on opposite ends of the living room, occasionally shooting very sharp daggers at one another, but mostly stubbornly avoiding each other. Lily and Remus had managed to convince the pair to at least sit in the room, if nothing else but for the sake of the Christmas spirit. They had reluctantly agreed, but only on the terms that they would not be required to communicate with one another.

Lily and Remus were working exceptionally hard to maintain the peace, handing out presents to everyone and carrying on a light conversation. "Oh, AJ, this one's for you." Lily said in a voice that was a little too upbeat and handed her friend a large brown box. Arabella took the package and started unwrapping it. Her entire disposition changed when she saw the address. "Oh!" She said, grinning. "It's from mum. And look, it has a card." She pulled out a vanilla envelope and broke the red wax seal. "She says 'hi!' to you Lily, and you Erica, and you too Brenna." She paused for a moment and her brow furrowed. "Read that." She muttered to Lily, handing her the card. Lily read it and dissolved into fits of laughter. She dropped the card on the ground and everyone craned their necks to read what it said.

The card was covered in large, loopy writing.

…_I'm very sorry to hear that you have to room with that Sirius fellow. I know you don't like him, dear, but do try to get along. I never did understood what you so "loathed with a fiery passion" (as you say) about him. It seems to me that he's quite the charmer – and he's such a Very Handsome boy. And Erica's mum told me that he is a great student too, dear. I'm not trying to push him, in particular, on you, but I do want grandchildren one day…_

Sirius' sour face broke into a wide grin. "Oh, would you look at that? 'Fiery passion'? Do you mean it?"

"She's a crazy old bat anyways," Arabella muttered. Sirius grinned and looked at her. "_I_ think she's a lovely woman." Sirius replied. Arabella curled her lip. She glared at Erica, who backed away, looking quite frightened by the look on her friend's face.

"I don't remember ever talking to my mum about this lot. She was a Ravenclaw, you know, so good grades are really important to her…She talks to Dumbledore a lot you know…" she meekly defended herself.

The impending row was narrowly avoided by a timely rap on the door. Erica jumped up and scampered off to open it at once. Arabella looked on the edge of killing someone and seemed to be looking around the room for a victim. Sirius was still grinning like a madman, and the rest of the room was looking annoyed, with the exception of Peter, who looked slightly frightened.

Erica returned quickly clutching a stack of envelopes. "The mailman delivered our reports." She said tossing a pile onto the table. The room stared at them reluctantly.

Remus leaned forward and opened his. A look of relief spread over his face.

"I don't know why you get all worked up about your grades. You get top marks every single year." James muttered, picking up his envelope. The rest of the room followed suit.

"How'd you do Prongs?" Sirius asked. "Prongs?"

James had suddenly turned very pale. "Mum's going to murder me."

"Why?" The room asked in one voice.

"I got a 'C' in chemistry." He muttered.

Arabella glanced over her friend's shoulder. "Lily can help you. She got top marks."

Lily sent her friend a murderous glare. Arabella pretended not to see it.

"Would you?" James asked hopefully.

"I suppose." Lily sighed. Arabella smirked at her – her kind disposition always got her into these sorts of things, and Arabella hoped that Lily would, finally, see the light and snog the life out of James Potter.

* * *

"Remind me again why we are going to a New Year's party as hookers?" Arabella asked her friends dryly as she slipped on her dress.

"Because Sirius, pimp he is, asked us for a favor." Brenna answered.

"And what does that tell you?" Arabella replied. She looked at her dress in the mirror. "This is so low cut." Indeed it was. The tight, black satin barely seemed to cover anything at all, on either end.

"It's no difference than how you normally dress." Erica replied, slipping on a matching dress in red.

Arabella laughed. "Look who's talking, missy."

"I don't think I want to wear this, guys." Lily called from the bathroom. Arabella and Erica exchanged glances.

"Come out Lily so we can see." Brenna called. Lily stepped slowly out of the bathroom in a green dress with the same cut. Her friends catcalled. Lily blushed severely.

A long, low whistle came from the doorway. The girls looked around. Sirius was grinning from the doorway. "Amazing how you all look the part." Sirius added dryly from the door. Brenna smacked him across the head. Sirius slung his arms over Brenna and Arabella. "Come on my whores – let's go." Lily had to restrain Arabella from killing the pimp.

They walked down the stairs and right beneath a hanging branch of mistletoe. "A parting gift for your pimp?" Sirius inquired. Arabella snorted in disdain. "Not from me. That's your _girlfriend's_ job." She grinned. "Oh, look there's Hunter. Bye!"

Sirius scowled after Arabella and snorted in disgust as she kissed Hunter. "Are you going to let us go?" Erica asked, looking at his hand on his shoulder.

Sirius snapped back to attention and smiled. "You each have to kiss me before you go," he said, pointing to the mistletoe above their heads. "It's the rules." Each girl kissed him on the cheek. "How about one more time ladies?"

Lily and Erica shook their heads and slipped quickly out from under his arms. He grinned at Brenna. "It's just you and me." He said, sweeping her into a kiss.

Across the room, Lily scooped up ice into water at the bar.

"You like my costume?" James asked her from behind.

Lily turned around and looked at him. He was wearing a blue polo shirt with the collar turned up and a pair of pre-ripped jeans. "Er…what are you supposed to be exactly?"

James feigned an offended look. "I am _obviously_ an American."

"Obviously." Lily agreed after laughing.

"I bet I can guess what you are." He replied grinning. "A prostitute eh? Highly original, I have to say. I've never seen a prostitute at a new year's party before."

Uncomfortable, Lily pulled her dress down. "It was Sirius's idea. He went as a pimp, you know. So we all dressed up like this as a, uh, favor."

James nodded. "I know. He does something along those lines every year." He grinned and looked down at the counter. Grabbing a can of beer, he opened it. "I guess you don't drink." Lily shrugged – it depended on the scenario. James took another swig and looked down towards her chest. "I've really been enjoying this, but I think it might be time to tell you something." He paused and Lily looked at him curiously. He grinned and said slowly "When you wear a dress that low cut, you really shouldn't pull it down that far." He flashed her a smile and walked away, before he ruined what had been a very good conversation by saying something thick.

Lily looked down and quickly crossed her arms. She looked at James walking away. A flash of blue light brought her back to reality. Remus stood grinning in front of her, holding the camera from earlier. A black eye-patch obscured one of his gold eyes and a rubber sword was fastened to a leather belt around his hips. "Prostitute?" He asked her.

Lily nodded her head. "Pirate?"

Remus smiled. "So, how did Sirius convince all of you to dress – and I'm clearly using the term loosely here – like that?"

"He went as a pimp."

Remus nodded. "He always figures out a way to make you four, ah, _dress_ like that." Noticing Lily's confused look, he elaborated. "Last year, we had a 'Swimsuit Model' themed party. The year before that, he enchanted the common room to maintain a 109 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. It goes all the way back to 1st year when he managed to convince Arabella that he was only attracted to girls who dressed really conservatively, and she made all of you wear the least amount of clothing decent. Don't you remember any of this?"

A look of surprise was stuck on Lily's face. "I had no idea there was a grand scheme behind it all! But it all makes so much sense." She laughed.

"And he managed it again this year."

"Clearly." Said James, who, never able to leave Lily for long, had walked back up to the bar again. He grabbed another drink. "I guess you two aren't going to dance at this party. Not that it matters. It'll be far more entertaining to watch our happy couple have another row." He pointed to a corner of the room where Arabella and Hunter stood. Arabella leaned against the wall with one foot on it and Hunter stood about six inches away from her with his arms folded over his chest. A sideways baseball cap blocked his eyes from view and a glittering overlarge piece of jewelry hung over his white wife-beater.

"Belle, I really do wish you would wear a bit more. You know, cover yourself up a bit. People might get the wrong impression; think that you want something you don't actually want." Hunter was saying, looking intently at his girlfriend's skimpy outfit.

Arabella fixed her blue eyes on the white ceiling. "And here I was thinking that's what you liked about me." She muttered sarcastically.

Hunter gave her a furious glance. "You know very well that I like more than your looks. In fact, I haven't even gotten use of your looks." Arabella lowered her steely eyes from the ceiling and stared at him. "Don't give me that look. Er, you know that's not really what I mean…er…well it is…but I don't mind so much."

Arabella rolled her eyes. "Can we just go dance now?" Without waiting for a reply she untangled his arms and kissed his cheek. As a slow song came on, she led him to the center of the make-shift dance floor.

Remus' eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the pair dance. He quickly averted his gaze and turned back to Lily and James, who were now deep in conversation. "I guess that fight you predicted didn't come then, eh?"

James moved his brown eyes away from Lily's face reluctantly. "Hmmm? Oh. It will come Remus. Trust me." He answered somewhat distractedly. Immediately looking at Lily, he answered to her curious expression "Well? Have you ever had a holiday where she didn't get into a fight with someone?" Lily tried to suppress a laugh. "You see?" James replied.

Aware that his friend was finally making progress with the girl of his dreams, Remus grabbed a drink off of the marble counter and, walking around the crowded dance floor, spotted Erica and Peter. Peter was eating a bowl of crisps and Erica looked slightly annoyed. "Do you need someone to dance with?" He asked her. Erica nodded thankfully and they pushed their way onto the floor.

Considerably happier than she had been while talking in the corner, Arabella grinned at Remus and Erica. At the same time, Lee sidled up next to Hunter. "May I cut in?" He asked his friend. Hunter nodded and headed towards the bar. Arabella grinned.

"How was your ski trip Lee?"

Lee looked at Arabella slightly anxiously. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Leaning forward, he whispered into her ear. "I know that you guys were on a break before we took our trip. But still, Hunter cheated on you."

Arabella stopped moving. Her eyes darted over Lee's face. "You're telling the truth." She breathed.

"I have no reason to lie, and I am a lot more honest than my friends." Lee replied, nodding sadly.

"Excuse me." Arabella left the dance floor to where Hunter stood drinking near the counter. She took a few deep breaths, and then approached her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, grinning. "Hey baby," she cooed, hugging him from behind, "do you want to take a walk?" Hunter turned around and looked her up and down. He nodded. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the dance room.

Lily and James broke off mid-conversation. "That doesn't look like they're going to fight." Lily said, grinning.

Smiling right back, James replied "Just you wait."

Arabella led Hunter through the house and into the back yard. He gave her a curious look, but then just grinned. "Wherever you want, Belle."

"Don't call me that!" She snapped at him. He looked surprised, then taken aback. "How many girls did you sleep with in Vail?"

"Wha-?"

"Don't act stupid Hunter! Answer me!"

"How did you know about that?"

Arabella snorted in rage. "Never you mind. Leave. _Now_!"

"But, Belle-"

"I'm serious Hunter. Get. Out. Of. Here!"

He stood frozen on the spot for a moment. He just stared at her, in shock, his mouth open. Then, he closed it, and raised himself up to his full height. "Fine! You're a cold bitch anyways. I'm outta here." Slamming the door behind him, he left quickly. He walked back into the party and signaled to his friends.

James grinned at Lily. "Told you."

Reproachfully, Lily told him not to act smug about it. "I hope she's all right."

James grinned. "Of course she's alright. She's AJ. That girl is as tough as nails."

At that very moment Arabella walked in. She had snow flurries in her hair and looked ridiculously angry. Walking up the James and Lily, she grabbed James' beer right out of his hands and swallowed the rest of it in one gulp. James and Lily both stared at her with astonished looks on their faces. "It's okay," James said finally, "It's not like I was planning on finishing that or anything."

Arabella ignored him and grabbed another can off of the counter.

"AJ," Lily said with real concern, "Are you sure that you should be drinking like that? You've never had alcohol before."

Glancing at her friend in between chugs, Arabella muttered, "I've had too many bad relationships to not drink Lily." Or at least something that sounded like that as she gulped down the beer. Finishing off the can, she looked at James "Do we have anything stronger?"

James nodded and grinned, apparently pleased at her new decision to drink. "Sure. Come with me to the kitchen." He started walking with Arabella following him. Lily looked at James disgusted.

"Don't give her any hard liquor. She's never even had a sip of alcohol before. Are you trying to poison her or something?"

James laughed. "Just giving the lady what she wants."

Lily stopped in her tracks. "You're disgusting." Turning on her heel, she stomped away. James stopped in his tracks and stared after her. This was not a good thing for their relationship, he thought.

Arabella tapped him. "James? The liquor please." Shaking his head, he led her down the hall.

As Lily made her way through the entrance hall to get back to the party, she came across another fight in the entrance hall. Sirius stood in the center of the hall, facing Brenna, who was doing a fairly good impression of Arabella. Behind him, the waitress from the club, Mandy or whatever, stood in shock and fury.

"YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH HER? WHILE I WAS AT THE SAME CLUB AS YOU! ARE YOU INSANE?" Brenna roared at him, her fists clenched.

Sirius looked at her. "Please Brenna, let me try to explain. I was drunk-"

"YOU WERE DRUNK? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU GO AROUND BRAGGING ABOUT HOW YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF GETTING DRUNK, BIG MAN YOU ARE WITH YOUR HIGH TOLERANCE, YET YOU USE THAT AS AN EXCUSE FOR ME! THAT YOU WERE DRUNK!" Brenna looked worn and shocked. The waitress, Madison, still stood rooted on the spot.

"I see you've come to join in on the fun, Mudblood." A cool voice said quietly from behind Lily. Lily turned around and looked right into the face of Severus Snape. She gave a start of surprise. Lucius Malfoy, Regulus Black, and Severus Snape were sitting on the staircase next to her, apparently quite enjoying the show. She largely ignored the other two, but sent Snape a particularly nasty look. He deserved it.

"You're no doubt wondering why we're here. It imagine it might be too much for your brain to handle. This waitress here told us that she was going to by the New Year's party here. Now, as we know your good friend AJ particularly well, we decided to drop by and give her a visit. Maybe even get a little extra attention from her." Lucius Malfoy finished, with a wink.

"Aren't you engaged?" Lily asked him with disgust.

Lucius nodded. "Actually, I have a girl betrothed to me. It doesn't stop me from having fun on occasion. No offense to Narcissa, Regulus." Appalled Lily looked away.

Regulus laughed. "I really couldn't care less about it, Lucius. Anyways, Lily, carrying on, we got here and almost immediately, my big brother gets himself into quite the situation, so of course we stay to watch. What sort of brother would I be if I didn't support him in his time of need?" He pointed to where Sirius stood pleading with Brenna and ignoring Madison, who was now hanging on him.

"Look, Brenna! I didn't know what to do. You were going to find out but I convinced Belle not to-"

"AJ?" Brenna breathed. In a second, her voice dropped from shouts a rage to a terrifying whisper.

Sirius gulped and Madison butted in "See! That's who you really should be mad at. Your friend, the tart who picked up Jeremy – he can't come by the way, I was supposed to mention that – and who didn't even tell you that your boyfriend hooked up with me. That's who –"

"You! Shut up, or I will _hurt_ you. Sirius – what did AJ do?" Brenna continued in her menacing whisper.

"Er…well, she ran into Madison and me, and, er…well I told her not to tell, and, er, I guess, er, she didn't." He finished hastily, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Everyone in the room became completely silent for a moment. From the party, they could hear everyone counting down.

Without further ado, Brenna turned on her heel. Spotting Lily, she strode across the room. "Where is she?" Lily shook her head, not wanting to give Arabella away. Before Brenna could ask again, James' voice, followed by Arabella's laugh, echoed from the kitchen. Brenna stormed towards the room, quickly followed by everyone else who had witnessed the argument.

Sirius stayed behind for a moment. He looked at Madison. "Why did you come here? No, don't even answer me. Just leave." She looked taken aback. Ignoring this, Sirius shoved her coat into her hands and pushed her out of the house. He ran to the kitchen.

The counter was littered with alcohol bottles, except for the space where Arabella sat, laughing at James, who was telling fairly stupid jokes. The three Slytherins immediately gathered around Arabella, clearly enjoying her short, tight dress and unprecedented but nonetheless much appreciated level of intoxication. James turned around as people entered. "Hey! It's Lily. I like Lily." He stated quite seriously. Lily glanced at him, but was paying more attention to Brenna, who was quite ready to commit a double homicide.

"AJ!" Brenna snapped. Arabella looked up from talking to Regulus and noticed her friend's furious look.

"Oh sweetie what's wrong?" She asked, barely slurring her words. She slid of the counter, stood upright (with the help of Lucius' arms around her waist), and stumbled forward.

"You!" Brenna replied. Arabella looked quite taken aback "_You_ never wanted me to date Sirius! _You_ said he would end up hurting me! And he did. You were right! But the whole thing is your fault!"

"My fault?" Arabella was clearly confused.

"Yes, your fault! You saw him doing just what you predicted he would. But you didn't tell me. Not…A…Word!"

Arabella suddenly became much less drunk. She shook her head, and brushed Lucius' hands from her hips. "I know, Brenna. I'm sorry. He said you wouldn't believe me!"

"And you believed him! I can't – I can't even deal with you right now!" Brenna replied storming from the room.

For the second time that night, the whole group stood silent. Then James passed out right on top of Lily. With Sirius's help, she managed to avoid toppling over. "You two," she ordered, motioning to Lucius and Severus, "help us get him up stairs." The two Slytherins looked reluctantly at the fallen body of their enemy, but they helped carry him once the caught Lily's dangerous gaze.

After the group slowly maneuvered James out of the kitchen, all was quiet. Arabella stood stock still, as if she were unable to absorb the whole encounter. Regulus walked forward and scooped her off of her feet just as she was about to collapse from mingled shock and intoxication. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he found his way back to the staircase. The noise of a party in full swing echoed from the other room.

* * *

**Special Thanks to:**

**Amareth's Shadow - **I guess it turns out I lied. Updates will come very slowly, but I just couldn't get this story out of my head. I hope you like this chapter. And Sirius isn't so bad he's just, how should I put this, a walking sack of hormones.

**Sydney F. Rotten** – I don't know if you can call this chapter sweet, but I hope that you like it all the same.

**Fear My Butterfly Army** – I like your name and I'm glad you like my little story.


	11. Quite Possibly The Worst New Year Ever

_Muggle Studies_

~ Chapter 11 – Quite Possibly the _Worst_ New Year Ever~

"_Only time can heal your broken heart, just as time can heal his broken arms and legs." ~ Miss Piggy_

Arabella slowly opened her blue eyes and was immediately blinded by the light slipping through the crack between the curtains. Intense pain washed over her – her head was surely splitting apart. Mumbling something incomprehensible about sunlight she rolled out of bed onto the floor and crawled across the room towards the bathroom, her eyes shut tight. Reaching the bathroom door, she slowly pulled herself up and stumbled into the room.

Shutting the door behind her, she found herself in the pitch dark. She opened her eyes, and felt around for the medicine cabinet, wincing whenever she moved her head too much. Finally, she found it. Opening it, she reached inside and grabbed an Advil shaped bottle. She twisted off the cap, popped one of the oval capsules into her mouth, and rinsed it down with water from the sink. With her head leaned against the cool tile on the wall, Arabella waited for the medicine to take effect. Deciding that it was working too slowly indeed and grabbing a washcloth from a rack, she turned on the faucet and placed the cloth underneath the flow. Then she placed the damp cloth over her eyes.

After five minutes, she went back into the room. The washcloth slipped from over her eyes. This was not her room. It was smaller, and only contained one bed. As she stared at the bed wondering how she got here, it started to _move_. She grabbed the nearest object for defense, which happened to be one of her heels from the night before, and whipped back the covers. Regulus Black lay there asleep. A _nude_ Regulus Black.

She turned and grabbed the satin green robe on the chair behind her, slipping it over her shoulders. Then she turned back to the bed. What the hell happened the night before? Regulus lay stretched out on the bed, sleeping soundly. Arabella leaned her head down next to his head. "Oi! It's time to wake up!" She cried loudly into his hair.

He sat up quickly and promptly fell off the bed. A second later, he pulled himself up and folded his arms on the mattress. His green eyes looked up at her. "Must you always do that? Every single time, you shout in my ear. It's rather infuriating, in case you were unaware."

Arabella grinned down at him. "You ought to wake up earlier then."

His handsome face broke into a grin. He looked her up and down. "Don't you look quite lovely this morning?"

Pulling her robe tighter around her body, she sat down on the bed facing Regulus. "What happened last night?"

"You really don't remember?"

"Er…no. No."

He looked surprised and slightly guilty. "That is…not good. At all. Okay…well… What _is_ the last thing that you remember?"

"I had a fight with Hunter and-"

"Who is this Hunter fellow, now?"

"Well, _now_ he's my ex-boyfriend. Anyway, I had a fight with him and then I came inside and I started drinking, and…that's all."

"When did you start drinking in excess like the rest of us, by the way?"

Arabella looked sheepish. "I don't usually drink, you know I don't. This is my second time. _Ever_. Each time, I get drunk – it's this low alcohol tolerance, you see – and something like _this_ happens."

"You were just _smashed_ last night. Completely plastered."

"Apparently. I see that it worked to your advantage."

"Slytherin." He said pointedly.

"I still expected better of you."

Regulus sat up a little and bit his lip. "Be nice. You said it yourself – you can't remember anything. But if you _could_, you would know this was your idea."

Arabella laughed. "All right."

Arabella sat still on the bed for a good ten minutes, lost in thought. Regulus watched her closely. Finally, she snapped to attention. "You have to leave now. What time is it?"

Nodding, he looked at the alarm clock. "6:15. You do always wake up ridiculously early, apparently even with a hangover. Do I have to leave early because if I'm seen your comrades-in-arms will have me drawn and quartered?"

"And me along with you," Arabella replied, smiling slightly. She began walking around the room, grabbing his jeans, shirt, boxers, and shoe. The items landed next to Regulus on the bed. "I don't think anyone will be up – but I really think you should leave as soon as possible."

He nodded again and put on his boxers. Arabella searched the room frantically for his other shoe. When she came near him, he grabbed her wrists and sat her on the bed. His dark green eyes bored into her. "AJ – Look at me; _look_ at me. Good. Calm Down. It will all be perfectly alright – nobody is going to see me, and your dirty little secrets will remain unknown. Calm _down_." He said slowly. Arabella inhaled deeply and, after a moment, nodded.

"Okay."

Regulus released his grip on her and smiled. He pulled on his dark jeans and began to look for a shoe. Seconds later, he picked it up and waved it at her. "Found it." He sat down next to her and pulled the shoes onto his feet. With her head leaning on his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her. "You really worry about this too much.

Laughing quietly, Arabella nodded. "I know. You still have to leave now though."

"I know – I forget how unacceptable I am." Regulus murmured. He shrugged, "I not in the mood to be killed anyways." He slid off the bed, and knelt down in front of her. Grasping her hands, he kissed her.

Smiling, she swept his black hair back from his face. "Thank you."

"Always a pleasure."

"You really need to go now."

"I _know_."

Arabella grabbed Regulus's hand and rushed out of the room. Regulus followed her. They swept down the hallway quickly and quietly. When they reached the main staircase, Arabella broke into a run down the stairs, her green robe streaming from her legs, with Regulus still following her obediently.

At the coat rack, Arabella grabbed Regulus' black coat and handed it to him.

They both whipped around when they heard a door open somewhere upstairs. Arabella opened the door and pushed Regulus out into the snow. "I haven't got my-"

"It's too late for that; someone's coming!"

Just as Arabella closed the door a voice sounded from the staircase.

"Belle?"

"Don't call me that." She responded automatically.

From the stairs Sirius grinned. "I see you're back in normal spirits."

Arabella shrugged and began to walk towards the kitchen. Sirius jogged down the stairs after her. Arabella sent him a strange look over her shoulder. "I'm sure there aren't any rapists and or murderers in our kitchen Black."

"I wasn't coming to protect you, but if you want me to…" He drifted off as she gave him a withering look. "Didn't think so. Look, I wanted to talk to you about last night."

She stopped so quickly that Sirius ran into her back. Pushing him away from her, she stared at him apprehensively. "Last – last night?" She stuttered.

Too concerned about his worry to notice hers, Sirius nodded his head 'yes'. He cleared his throat and stared at the ceiling. While he looked up, Arabella readjusted her robe and tried, unsuccessfully, to adopt a look of mild interest. Finally, Sirius looked back down at her and scratched his neck.

The long wait was more than Arabella could bear. "Well?" She prompted.

"Oh…yes…last night…well…It was the New Year…we had a party…" He started to ramble on.

"I know," she replied slowly, "it happens every year, you see."

"'msorry." Sirius spit out quickly.

Arabella narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Whatever he said, it did _not_ sound good. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Would you repeat it?"

Sighing, Sirius said slowly and _quite_ nervously, "So Maggie the waitress –"

Arabella sneered. "I thought her name was Madison. And I _really_ don't want to hear a story about her."

Sirius glared at her. "So I can't remember the name of _every_ girl I know. I know too many people." He paused when Arabella made a noise of disdain. "_Anyways_, the story isn't about her. Not really, at least. She's just a minor player. She came by, see, and Brenna found out about something, well, you know what, and _don't interrupt me_," he warned as Arabella's eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth. She snapped her jaw closed and crossed her arms. "So Brenna and I had a huge fight-"

"Well, I should think so."

"I said _don't_ interrupt me." He paused, and then rushed out the final part of his story, "and in the heat of it all I let it slip that you knew about it already; I'm sorry." As soon as he finished his spiel he ducked slightly and hid his face with his arms.

In shock Arabella stood stock still in the hallway. Her arms dropped to her side and her jaw hung open. Sirius peered at her through the gap between his arms. Slowly, she closed her jaw and clinched it instead. Her eyes narrowed and she lifted her arms. Sirius ducked again.

"You did WHAT? I CANNOT _BELIEVE_ YOU. I'M – I'M SO MAD I CAN'T EVEN THINK STRAIGHT! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Sirius began to back down the hallway towards the kitchen. "In my defense Belle, I said I was sorry?"

Pointing her finger towards him in accusation, Arabella advanced towards him. "YOU'RE SORRY? 'SORRY' IS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT HERE! DO YOU HAVE _ANY_ IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?"

Beginning to back up more quickly, Sirius scrambled to think of something. "Well, it was the truth." His eyes grew wide at what he just blurted out. Now caught between a rock, a hard place, and Arabella Figg, he turned on his heel and ran the final steps down the hall towards the kitchen.

If she was mad before, Arabella was now livid. Her eyes seemed to blaze with fury and she looked utterly terrifying. "THE TRUTH? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHY THAT'S THE BLOODY TRUTH?" She stormed into the kitchen, and, once again, the marble island, still littered with empty bottles from the night before, was the only thing that separated Sirius from an angry Gryffindor. "BECAUSE YOU BLODDY COVINCED ME THAT SHE WOULDN'T BELIEVE ME! NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT, SHE WOULD'VE! I'VE BEEN HER FRIEND FOR SEVEN _YEARS_!"

Sirius couldn't imagine why anyone would befriend anyone so loud and temperamental, but he thought it was better to keep this idea to himself right then. Looking at her livid face, Sirius ducked again. Apparently, this made Arabella all the more angry. "I SWEAR TO GOD – WILL YOU STOP DUCKING DOWN! I AM SO MAD I CAN'T EVEN HURT YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Slowly raising his head, he peered over the counter apprehensively. Seeing that she appeared to be indeed too angry to inflict any injuries, he pulled himself up. "I'm glad to see that. I've been thinking – maybe you shouldn't scream so loud; people might hear you." Her anger, apparently, did not, in fact, stop her from injuring him. She picked up a bottle lying on the counter in front of her and chucked the bottle in his direction. It shattered at his feet. He jumped to avoid the glass, just as she threw another bottle. Catching it, he placed it gently down.

"Will you _stop_? You're going to break something!"

"HOPEFULLY YOUR THICK SKULL!" She fumed.

Another bottle flew his way. Ducking it shattered just where his head had been. Okay, so the bird had good aim. "GODDAMMIT WOMAN! ARE YOU _TRYIN_G TO BLOODY KILL ME?" Judging by the look on her face, she evidently _was _trying to kill him.

Just as she was about to send another bottle his way, Remus and Peter appeared in the doorway. Seeing that he arrived in the middle of a violent fight, Peter turned on his heel and fled from the scene; innocent bystanders could oft perish in these rows of theirs. Remus rushed into the room and grabbed Arabella. He lifted her off the ground with one arm and tried to grab the bottle from her hand. Finally, she released the bottle and it landed back on the counter.

While Arabella struggled against Remus' grip, Sirius came back to the side of the island. He stood a good distance away from Arabella and looked at her, shaking his head. "I told you your screaming would wake someone."

Arabella lashed out at him and fought even harder to get away from Remus. Remus hauled her further away from Sirius. "Sirius," He warned through gritted teeth, "I…am only…so…strong."

"Remus I swear if you don't let me go right now I will make sure that you never have any children. Do you understand?" Remus, smart fellow he was, _did_ understand; he released her quickly. She stumbled forward a few steps and stared at Sirius. "I. _Hate_. You." She whispered vehemently before storming from the room.

Sirius glared after her. "Tell me something I don't know." He yelled at her back.

Remus looked at Sirius and shook his head. "You might want to work on your comebacks a little more, mate." Remus picked up a bottle of the counter and grabbed its neck. Faking a toss, he looked at Sirius. "So, what did you do this time?"

Sirius looked offended. "What do you mean '_what did I do'_? She was tossing bottles at _me_."

After he grabbed a trash bag from under the sink, Remus looked at his friend and gave him _the look_. "Right. You're innocent. Of course." He started putting bottles in the black bag.

"Don't be sarcastic with me. I've just had a near death experience." He glared at his friend when Remus muttered 'Uhuh', sounding quite unconvinced. "I was trying to apologize."

"Help me toss these bottles." Remus ordered his friend. Sirius looked nervous. "Don't act _stupid_. I mean into the bag." Sirius sighed and threw two bottles into the bag. They landed with a clink. "Now, what were you apologizing for?"

Surprised, Sirius paused, holding three empty bottles. "You mean you don't know?"

Remus rubbed his brow in annoyance. "Sirius, if I knew, I wouldn't have _asked_."

"I'm not stupid, Remus. I asked a rhetorical question because I am surprised you don't know. Last night, Brenna and I had a fight."

The last two bottles landed in the full trash bag. Remus sighed and looked at Sirius. "About the waitress?"

"Uhuh."

"I can't believe you didn't think she'd find out."

"They usually don't." Sirius muttered. Remus rolled his eyes. "Okay, so maybe some of them, _on occasion_, find out when I do things like that."

"Sirius, _all_ of them find out. That's why I would never tell you something I didn't want everyone to know."

Raising his eyebrows, Sirius sat down. "I haven't told anyone about your _furry little problem_ now, have I."

"Valid point. Thanks for that, by the way. But that's not the point. How do you keep getting me off-track? _Don't answer that, Padfoot_. Now, how did Brenna find out?"

"Martha came."

"You mean Madison."

"That's the one. So, Brenna found out pretty quickly."

"So AJ is mad because-"

"I told that she knew."

"What!" Remus turned to look at his friend so quickly he got whiplash. "No wonder she tried to kill you."

Sirius glared at his friend. "Oh, shut up! I know I shouldn't have. At least I _tried_ to apologize."

Laughing, Remus shook his head. "That means nothing. You really deserve her wrath."

"I know." Sirius scowled. "She still overreacted."

"I think she under-reacted."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nobody asked you, you tosser."

"Take out the bottles."

"I will."

Remus paused before he left the kitchen. "You're so screwed."

"I know." Sirius muttered under his breath. He watched his friend leave and called after him, "Way to be supportive in my time of need, by the way!"

Remus laughed.

* * *

For the next two days before school resumed, the atmosphere of the house was what some would tactfully describe as _tense_. Lily and Erica were stuck between Brenna's rage that Arabella hadn't told her about Sirius's usual behavior, and Arabella's fury that Brenna was no longer speaking to her and wouldn't even listen to the reason behind the secrecy. Continuing with the trend, Lily was livid with James for giving Arabella so much liquor, which, in her opinion, prohibited Arabella from fixing the situation with Brenna immediately. In turn, James was mad at Arabella for demanding it. And, as usual, Sirius and Arabella were furious with each other for a quite insubstantial reason. Meanwhile, Peter avoided the whole affair and Remus secretly found the whole situation rather amusing. All in all, the whole group was happier than most people when school finally started again.

Of course, the means by which to get to school were unusually complicated.

"_Black_! Give me the bloody keys! It's entirely your fault that I can't ride in my car anyways!" Arabella demanded, standing by the driver's door of the car.

Two feet away, Sirius stood defiantly with his arms folded over his chest and a scowl on face. "You can't even drive. It's not _my_ fault that your friend is ignoring you." He gripped the keys tighter.

Standing in the corner, Remus swore that he could actually see steam burst out of Arabella's ears. "Don't…even…" she hissed.

Remus laughed silently in the corner. But after he glanced at his watch, he officially decided that he could not be late to his first class. "Sirius!" he said loudly over the mix of raised voices. The pair stopped arguing and looked around at everyone, as if seeing them for the first time. "Just let her come in the car. We're going to be late."

Sirius stood stiffly for a few seconds before nodding his head. "All right." He said tersely.

"Thank you." Arabella mouthed to Remus. He nodded and, once she looked away, grinned foolishly.

The short drive was silent and uneasy. Arabella sat with her arms crossed looking out the window, Sirius stared intently at the road, and James kept giving Arabella evil looks. Peter was the only one who didn't notice the bad tempers. He chomped on a large Milky Way bar and hummed quietly and off tune.

Seven minutes and thirty-four seconds later _exactly_, they arrived on the school campus. Arabella grabbed her shoulder bag and hurried out of the car, muttering an almost inaudible thank you to Remus. Crumpling his wrapper and tossing it on the pavement, Peter grinned at his friends as if to say 'the things you get yourselves into, you bloody tossers' and ambled off to class. The remaining three lingered at the car. Remus looked at James and Sirius. "You've got first period with her, haven't you?"

After a short pause, James sighed and Sirius replied miserably, "yes."

Remus shook his head slowly and suppressed a grin. "You can walk home after you get a detention. It's rather dull waiting around for you both." He walked away.

James rolled his eyes and muttered 'goody-two shoes' while Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus' receding back. The pair sullenly started to walk towards their classroom.

When they arrived, Mr. Gellar seemed to be more upbeat than usual. After the late-bell rang, he motioned for everyone to stop talking. A broad grin was plastered on his face. "Today," he announced, clasping his hands together, "we are going to begin a spectacular project. But first, we are going to change lab partners." The whole class groaned and the teacher smiled more broadly, if possible. Sirius and James stared at each other. _Could the day get any worse_?

Clearing his throat, Mr. Gellar began to read off the list. "Arabella Figg and James Potter, Sirius Black and Hunter Green, oh how funny - two colour names! Hannah Mark and Tina Patterson, Daniel Grint and Rupert Radcliffe…" He continued to read out the list of partners. Though not enthused, Arabella and Hunter were quite happy to be rid of each other.

In contrast, James and Sirius looked miserable and appalled respectively. As James gathered up his books, Sirius stared in disgust. "This is, without a doubt, the _worst_ bloody new year ever!"

* * *

**I just want to thank everyone who is reviewing. You guys just make me feel so good. All of you! And here's my special thanks:**

**Mystical-Magical-Me –** Thank you so much for both of your reviews! I'm glad that you like it. I was thinking that James could do that, but I'll have to see. I do have something to that effect planned with a few of the characters. Quick question, by the way, what chapter do I say Arabella has a brother in? Because she's supposed to be an only child so I need to fix that.

**Jamie –** That makes me feel so good. And I actually did update relatively quickly! I hope you like the new chapter.

**Amareth's Shadow –** I totally cracked up when I read your review. I'm happy I lied too. I can't remember why I was stupid enough to stop writing this story. I don't think Brenna is being that stupid though. I mean, you'd be pretty pissed too, wouldn't you? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I tried to make it a little funny, otherwise, it would be a bit tedious, no?

**Harry-an-Ginny – **I'm glad you like it. Keep reading (all the way past this review!)

**Mandrake Queen –** I've made a favourite's list? Talk about fulfilling one of my ultimate goals in life. Seriously, I love it! I hope you like this chapter.


	12. Unplanned Discussions

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 12 – Unplanned Discussions~

"_One good reason to only maintain a small circle of friends is that three out of four murders are committed by people who know the victim." ~ George Carlin_

Brenna sat under the willow tree in the spacious back yard. The branches had protected the area from snow, but she was still rather cold. Still, she did not want to go inside. The situation in the house was uncomfortable, to say the least.

It had been a long day.

Arabella was desperately trying to apologize while simultaneously avoiding Brenna. In the days since New Year's, she had barely seen Arabella. This made everyone in the house tense. The whole day, her fellow Gryffindors had been giving her wary looks, scared she might blow up in their faces. She had to escape the tension.

In frustration, she chucked a rock at the frozen lake. It skidded across the surface. Throwing things, she realized, felt _really_ good. She picked up another stone, which seemed to be thriving in abundance under the old tree, and threw it at the pond. It chipped the ice. Brenna gathered up a handful of stones. One at a time, she tossed them towards the chip in the ice.

Eventually the ice broke into a small jagged hole. She tossed pebbles into it. Droplets of water splashed onto the ice. Lost in thought, Brenna continued the ever so cathartic process of lobbing rocks at the hole.

"You know that's rather bad for the pond's ecosystem."

Brenna whipped her head around. Remus was standing under the leaves. His shoulders were hunched and his hands were shoved deep into his pockets. The shoulders of his black coat were covered in snow. Brenna had not seen nor heard him arrive.

"Pardon?"

"Creating holes in the ice is bad for its ecosystem."

"Er…how so?"

"The ice protects everything below the surface. It helps balance out the temperature during the blasted winter months the rest of us are forced to suffer through."

"Oh." Brenna paused for a moment. "Did you really come out here to just to tell me I'm ruining the lake, or did they send you to check on me?"

Remus laughed. "Neither, actually. I just came to sit under the tree and think. And you didn't _ruin_ the pond. The hole is not big enough to do that."

"Oh." Brenna said again.

Remus did not say anything. He walked over and leaned against the tree trunk, looking out at the pond.

"Why did you come out, then?"

"Just to get away, same as you. At first this whole thing was quite funny, but now it's just driving me mad."

"Everyone fighting?" Brenna asked wearily.

"I'm afraid it's worse." Remus sighed, for dramatic effect. "The whole house is unnaturally quiet."

Brenna laughed. "I suppose this is a dreadful situation for those not involved."

"I imagine I'd rather be out of the circumstances than right in the middle." Brenna was about to reply, but Remus cut her off. "Are you cold?"

The sudden change in question caught Brenna by surprise. After a moment, she said, "Well no, not really. My hands are cold though; I forgot gloves."

He made a sympathetic sound. "I did too, so I can't loan you a pair. Here," he bent down, unwrapping his scarf from around his neck. He picked up her hands and wrapped it around her hands. "Better?" he asked.

"Quite. Thank you."

"I'm simply protecting the lake from a further barrage of rocks."

They both laughed. Remus sunk to the ground and sat next to her. After a moment, they fell silent. Remus stared at the lake. He seemed intent, as if he had suddenly forgotten she was right there beside him. Brenna studied his face. Once he unraveled his scarf, he revealed a small bruise along his jaw bone. Brenna studied it.

"What happened?" she asked finally.

Startled, he jumped a little and turned to look at her. Brenna noticed, for the first time in seven years, that his gold, wolfish eyes were also flecked with green. "I beg your pardon?"

"On your jaw," She pointed, misjudged the distance, and accidentally brushed her finger against the purple skin. Remus flinched. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Smiling, he shook his head. "No, it's quite all right." He rubbed his finger on his bruise. "I was wandering around late at night on Tuesday, and I didn't turn on any lights, so I ran into something – smacked my face into it, graceful bloke I am."

"Tuesday? Wasn't Tuesday a full moon? You should have been able to see."

He nodded his head, and glanced away. "I suppose I was really too tired to see where I was going then." Before Brenna could reply, he switched the topic. "So, you're quite angry with Sirius, eh?"

Brenna looked surprised at his sudden change again. She shook her head. "Well, technically, I suppose I am furious with him. But really, no, I'm not."

Remus nodded, but looked a little resentful. "Yes, he does always manage to make people not angry with him. Except for AJ. One could even venture to say her wrath keeps his ego from overinflating."

"I am angry with him. But, I expected it. I mean, I was dating _Sirius_. He does that to everyone. I would have been quite naïve to expect something different. It wasn't a serious relationship."

He could not help himself. Remus laughed. "Not serious? I think you are the longest relationship that he has ever had."

"Well that's not saying much. What was the longest before me?"

"Let me think." Remus looked up, and was quiet for a few moments. "In the 4th year, he dated a girl from Ravenclaw for about a month. I can't remember her name."

"Cathy O'Neill. I remember her. She is quite pretty."

"Yes, she is. Sirius only dates girls who are quite pretty."

Brenna laughed. "I ought to be flattered then, to live up to his high standards."

"No," Remus protested, "you shouldn't be flattered. The only standard he has is for looks."

"I was joking." She paused. "You're quite fed-up with him aren't you?"

After a long pause, Remus replied carefully, "I suppose. It's just because he is so angry at everyone when this whole situation is his fault. It's on him."

Brenna did not comment. She was carefully avoiding the conversation about whose fault it was. "What's the shortest relationship he's had?"

Remus did not have to hesitate to answer this question. "Since November of our fifth year, all his relationships have lasted about a day. Until you."

"A night, rather," Brenna corrected. "Is the date really so easy to pin-point?"

"You mean because I know it was November? Yes, it is that easy. A sudden, overnight switch – I think he finally realized that he could get along without dating."

"Until me."

"Until you."

For some reason she couldn't pinpoint, Brenna was fascinated by the subject. It was quite odd to be so interested in your ex's dating history – and quite unhealthy too. Remus, however, seemed reluctant to carry on the conversation about Sirius's long history of relationships. It would take a good deal of time to cover. Once again, Remus switched the topic.

"So you're mad at AJ?"

Brenna gave him such a withering glare that he actually scooted away from her a bit. "Well," he said, "for someone you're so furious with, you seem to share a lot of similar traits: terrifying glares, painful touches," he patted his bruise. He looked at her for a second, observing. "And, my personal favorite, breathtaking figures."

This surprised Brenna. She was all prepared to be angry with him, and give him a piece of her mind, but instead she just laughed. Soon, Remus was laughing too. "How on earth did you do that?"

His eyes twinkled. Brenna swore she saw him wink. "I guess I've picked up that little knack of not letting people stay angry with me. Useful, really."

Still laughing, Brenna tried to stand up. The scarf holding her hands together prevented her from doing so. Remus stood up. Then he bent over, and put his face close to hers. "Need help." He said, taunting.

"Yes please."

Remus pulled her up by the wrists. Unable to gain her balance without her hands, she leaned into him. He almost fell over backwards. When they were finally stable, Remus held the long branches aside, and allowed Brenna to walk through. It was quite a good deal colder outside of the tree because the branches provided protection. She shivered.

They hurried back to the house, hunched over in the wind. They got to the backdoor and Remus quickly opened it. Stepping into the house, Remus tried to shut the door. It took a moment because of the heavy snow. They stamped the snow off of their boots onto the mat by the door.

"Do you want me to unwrap you?" Remus asked.

"Pardon?" Brenna said. She looked surprised.

"Would you like me to unwrap you?" Remus asked again. Brenna looked quite shocked. "Your hands?" Remus continued.

Brenna's expression changed to embarrassment. "Oh yes, please do. That would be lovely."

Remus tried to cover his laughter as he unwrapped her hands. But he couldn't. His whole body shook slightly.

"Oh, bugger off." Brenna said.

Remus just laughed more.

Eventually, he did quit laughing. Or in Brenna's eyes, _finally_. He was standing in front of her, his black scarf dangling from his hands. Brenna tilted her head, listening in the sudden silence.

"It _is_ quiet."

"Eerie, isn't it?" Remus asked.

Brenna looked uneasy. "I don't like it."

Thinking for a moment, Remus replied, "Let's go out to eat. You know. Avoid this place for as long as possible."

"That sounds fantastic." Brenna agreed.

"Excellent." Remus wrapped his scarf around her neck. He walked to the shelf by the back door and grabbed two pairs of gloves. He held them pointedly out in front of Brenna. She took a pair.

They left.

* * *

"Have you seen Brenna anywhere?"

Lily looked up from her book. She was curled up in a green armchair, a soft blanket pulled over her. The fire was burning warmly, contrasting with the growing storm outside. Lily liked the room because it was quiet and at the back of the house, so people rarely bothered her there.

Arabella was leaning against the doorjamb in an overly large sweater and a pair of black leggings. Her arms were crossed and she looked weary.

"I'm sorry AJ, I haven't. Still no luck talking to her?"

She laughed and walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. She sunk onto a chair across from Lily. "You know I haven't. I will though. You've no idea how bad I feel about all of this."

"Would you like to have a discussion about your problems, AJ?" Lily asked, slipping a bookmark into her book, and placing it on the arm of her chair.

Shaking her head, Arabella said, "No. Merlin no," She glanced sideways at the door. "James didn't know where Brenna was either." She added casually. It was said in such a casual manner that Lily would not have suspected anything if Arabella had not mentioned James.

But Lily did notice.

"I wonder where she's gone." Lily replied, trying to sound equally casual.

Apparently, she was not casual enough. Arabella grinned. It was the grin that always scared Lily, giving her a feeling of impending trouble. "He's quite angry with me. Do you know why?"

Lily booked up her book again. "He began the new year with a dreadful hangover?"

Without missing a beat, Arabella shook her head for a second time. Perhaps a bit too vigorously; some of her hair fell out of the bun and curved around her face. "You know that's not why. And not to be selfish, but my calm is hanging by a thread. You've been my best friend for seven years, so I think it's safe to say that we can talk about this candidly. Cooperate."

She sighed in resignation. "All right, AJ," Lily began, "but there's really not much to say."

Arabella stared at her. "For being the smartest girl in our grade, you sure can act quite stupid." Arabella stated, in the frank tone she used during fights and serious discussions. "Now tell me why you're furious."

"AJ, I'm not furious. Potter and I have never gotten on well…" Lily slowly let her voice fade under Arabella's stare. Arabella had an annoying knack of staring at people till they talked. She should be an auror, that one. Lily sighed. "Well, it was quite idiotic of him to give you liquor then. You were obviously upset. AJ, I just don't understand how anyone can be so irresponsible."

"First, Lily," Arabella replied, "I was the one being irresponsible. I know it sounds corny, like something you would tell McGonagall to get out of something, but it's actually quite true. Secondly, I can take care of myself. I don't know why everyone seems to think I can't. So don't blame him because of me, Lily. Just don't."

"Fine. But letting you drink created the whole situation that night."

"That was quite a night." Arabella said, as if she regretted the whole thing. Lily felt there was a lot more underneath that statement, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know what those things were. Luckily for her, Arabella continued. "I created the whole situation. Well me and Black, really. All problems have this horrid tendency of leading back to him somehow."

Lily adjusted herself in her chair, to give herself time to think. She had not been prepared to have this conversation with Arabella, or anyone, and especially not during Arabella's current troubles. Finally, she started to speak again. "AJ, I suppose, it's not just that one night. It's everything he's done in the past. He's a prat."

"Was," Arabella corrected immediately. "He _was_ one. People change – you know that. Besides, that didn't seem to bother you before I got drunk."

Thoroughly startled, Lily nearly jumped out of her seat. "Pardon?"

Arabella grinned widely, like a young child entering Honeydukes for the first time. "Don't play dumb – it's bloody unnatural, coming from you. You were talking to James for a quite a long time that night. You looked rather cozy. Indeed, there was very little space between you." Arabella winked. "That's how I define getting on well."

Though she had never seen a cornered animal before, Arabella imagined Lily resembled one quite closely at the moment. This just made her grin more. Lily was ruffled by Arabella's grinning, but more-so by Arabella's keen observational skill. So, Lily resorted back to a defense mechanism she had not used since their fourth year at Hogwarts – resentful silence.

Finally, Arabella burst into laughter. More hair fell down from her bun. "Will you at least talk to him?" She pressed.

"All right," Lily agreed, reluctantly. She didn't have to say nice things.

They both fell silent for a while. Lily stared at the fire, in deep thought. Arabella, however, looked over Lily's head at the storm now raging outside. After a while, that turned out to be an hour, Arabella broke the silence. "Will you please emerge from your seclusion back here and come with me to the rest of the house. Erica can't talk because she has a major exam tomorrow. James is glaring daggers at me anytime I set foot in the living room. And Peter always gives me these really creepy looks. It's _weird_."

Lily always hated it when she had to be the one to point these things out. After a life of impossible beauty, you'd think one would realize it. "All blokes stare at you, AJ"

Laughing Arabella stood up. "So you've told me. Now get your bloody arse up out of that chair and come face the world with me."

Pretending to be resentful, Lily stood up slowly and walked out of her room.

Then the house went black.

* * *

**Special Thanks to:**

**Mandrake Queen** – Oh, I will, I will…Of course, it takes me forever to do one little chapter, but that's hardly the point, now is it? I hope you enjoy this one; God knows when the next one will come.

**Amareth's Shadow** – Everyone keeps saying that to me. All I've got to say is if he's related to Sirius Black, how bad can he be? (I'm glad you liked my little cheesy name game…)

**Jamie** – Going out? Hardly. They used to though. In my world, at least. If you think that little relationship is gross, just check out comments above.

**Mystical Magical Me** – I just wanted to check to make sure I didn't make a ridiculous typo like that. I hope you like this chapter…it's kinda one of those transitional ones…Oh, well.


	13. Black Out

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 13 – Black Out~

(no pun intended)

"_The moonlight shows us for what we really are." ~ Captain Barbossa_

"Er…Lily? Why is it dark?"

"I think the power went out."

"The whatta what?"

"The lines that carry electricity can get knocked down in storms and such, and so all the lights and other things that need electricity to work shut off, which is essentially…everything."

"Hmmm. Who knew being a muggle could be so difficult?"

Lily laughed. "Pretty much everyone who is muggle born."

"I always forget."

"Shouldn't you know with your mum being a squib and all?"

"No. She can't _do_ magic but she can _use_ magical things and the like." Arabella started feeling her way along the wall, towards the hallway to the kitchen. "You think we should walk back now?"

"Yes. It's a little creepy back here without lights."

They shuffled slowly down the hall, each feeling their way along the wall. Though dark, both could make out vague shadows and shapes. For the most part. "Bloody fucking shit faced son of Merlin!"

Lily started and wheeled around to where she thought her best friend's voice was coming from. The noise of the storm made it difficult to know. She could see the outline of Arabella leaning against the opposite wall, clutching her foot. "Er…AJ? Are you all right?"

"Fine." Arabella grimaced. "I stubbed my bloody toe against this sodding table in the hall. Did you know we had a sodding table pointlessly standing in the middle of a hallway?" She continued to mutter a string of curses under her breath. The storm blocked out most of her words, but Lily got the gist of it.

Clutching her hand over her mouth, Lily started to laugh hysterically. Either Arabella had an astounding sense of hearing or she could vaguely see Lily laughing uncontrollably across the narrow hallway. Lily could just imagine the scowl on Arabella's face.

Arabella quit cursing, and narrowed her eyes at Lily. The glare was pointless because Lily could barely see her. Gingerly, she let go of her foot and placed it on the cold wood floor. "Lily!" she said in a sharp voice, that didn't quite disguise the undertone of humor. "Must you? Can't you see I'm in pain? And you call yourself compassionate."

"Actually," Lily replied smartly, "I can't see much of anything."

Despite herself, Arabella burst out laughing. Because of the infectious nature of humor, Lily started laughing herself. She sunk to the floor and rested her elbows on her knees, trying to catch her breath in between giggles. Arabella was doubled over, clutching her sides and gasping for air as she laughed hysterically.

After a quite a while, both girls' laughter died down into occasional giggles. Arabella stood up straighter and leaned against the wall, wiping tears from her eyes. Shiny strands of her hair had fallen out of her bun as she was bent over double, and they fell around her face. Lily was wiping her eyes as well, still collapsed on the floor after her fit of laughter.

Walking a little closer to her best friend, Arabella stuck out her hand to help Lily off the ground. Unable to see very well due to tears and the dark, Lily missed her friends hand a couple of times before latching on and pulling herself off the floor. Once Lily was standing, they both felt their way along the walls.

"I think I've found the kitchen." Lily whispered to Arabella after a moment of slow steps. She didn't know why she was whispering – it was one of those things about being in the dark. It also seemed to take longer to get to the kitchen in the dark. Odd really. Behind her, she saw Arabella nod. She walked into the kitchen.

Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and held tightly. She let out a yelp and heard Arabella make a similar noise.

Then they heard the familiar and unmistakable noise of laughter – specifically the laughter of a mischievous Marauder. Lily felt herself released and was suddenly blinded by a bright light shining in her eyes. She raised her forearm to shield the glare and squinted into the light. It flicked on and off several times, and she saw James Potter holding a flashlight and grinning like a madman. She tried to roll her eyes, but it was surprisingly difficult when they were narrowed. "Will you get that out of my eyes?" She snapped, then realized she had promised her best friend that she'd try be nicer to the bloke. Luckily, James did not seem to notice her tone. He laughed, but obliged.

The whole scene was illuminated.

Sirius was still holding Arabella tightly, and she was struggling madly. James stepped closer to Lily and illuminated the other two. One of Sirius's arms was wrapped around her body holding her arms still so that she couldn't beat him, and the other was wrapped around her waist. "Those pants really look wonderful on you, ma Belle." Sirius said to Arabella, leaning down and whispering in her ear.

With annoyance, Arabella quit struggling and tried to look at him over her shoulder. "Oh, will you just let go of me."

Grinning like a madman, Sirius released her. "All you had to do was ask." Arabella stumbled forward a few steps. Lily saw her wince slightly when she used her stubbed toe. "What exactly was the point of that?" Lily asked the two boys, looking from one to the other. They both shrugged, but grinned devilishly.

"When it all went black, we decided to go out and look for you –" James began.

"– you know, to make sure you were safe–" Sirius continued.

"– so I found these brilliant canned light things–"

"– _bleeding_ clever, muggles are –"

"– and we talked about where you might be–"

"– so as to properly form our plan of action –"

"– but we didn't know. So we asked Erica –"

"– who said she had seen ma Belle come over this way –"

"– and we assumed that the two of you would be together –"

"– so we bravely trekked off into the dark unknown to find the both of you –"

"– without regard for our personal safety –"

"– desiring nothing more than your safe return –"

"– when out of the black, we heard Lily whisper something about the kitchen –"

"– and we couldn't resist planning a little surprise for the both of you –"

"– we _are_ Marauder's after all." James finished, grinning madly.

While the two boys talked, Arabella and Lily's focus switched between the two boys. Once they were done speaking, Arabella caught Lily's eye and gave her an amused expression and a wink. "You clearly didn't have any regard for your well being, sneaking up on the both of us like that." She muttered.

With a wink, Sirius gave her a cheeky grin. "That noise was quite interesting ma Belle. Is that the noise you make when –"

Arabella pointed her finger at him. "You do _not_ want to finish that sentence, Black!" she warned him rather forcefully. He did not respond – just gave her another cheeky grin. Lily and James exchanged a glance. The two were absolutely impossible.

"How's about we all congregate in the living room." He said, rubbing his hand together. The light from the flashlight he was holding darted across the ceiling with this motion. He quickly righted it and illuminated the kitchen again. Lily shot him a smile, then glanced nervously back at Arabella and Sirius, who were ignoring each other.

It was much more pleasant than the more common alternative.

"That sounds fine," Arabella said to James. He nodded, and beamed the light in the direction of the living room. Arabella and Lily both turned and walked towards the living room, leaving two of the Marauders standing in the kitchen. James flashed the light towards Sirius, who blinked and then glared.

"Any reason you're trying to blind me, Prongs?" He didn't really need to ask; he knew what his friend was going to say.

"_Must_ you annoy AJ so much? It's hard enough getting Lily to even speak to me as it is – I don't need you to constantly pick fights with her best friend."

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his wavy hair. "Jamsie, my boy, I know you hate to hear this, but I don't think my fights with Figg will effect what happens between you and Lily. Besides, it looks like your relationship is coming together. You hardly fought at all last year and at New Year's you looked positively chummy."

James couldn't help himself – he grinned. "We did." He frowned again. "But then AJ and I got drunk, and now Lily is barely speaking to me."

Sirius chuckled, and James scowled at him. "Sorry mate. It's just funny because you're mad at Figg too." He backed up slightly once he saw his friend's look. "Funny in that I-was-kidding-it's-not-funny-at-all-please-don't-kill-me way. James, Figg wouldn't take out my fights with her on Lily. She would want what's best for her friend, and if that's you, then I won't be in the way." He paused. "I mean of course that's you – not 'if'. Never '_if_'."

James grinned. "If you say so. Merlin, I think so. Lily is just so wonderful and she smells nice and –"

"Would you like some advice?"

"From you?" James raised a brow. "The guy who has never had what qualifies as a relationship, never been loyal to a girl, and never been in love with a girl…Yes please."

Sirius stuck out his tongue. "Since you're my best mate, I'll let the insults slide – if only because they actually have a somewhat solid base – and give you the advice. Apologize."

"Pardon?" James looked terrified.

"You can't just take it all out on Arabella. You need to apologize to Lily for being involved. It's the only way, Prongs, old boy."

"I suppose you're right…" James drifted off. He tilted his head to the side. "Arabella?"

"You know she hates to be called that. What about her?"

"You said her name."

"Er…so?"

James shrugged. "I dunno. I've just never heard you say it before."

Sirius frowned slightly. "I probably have. You were, most likely, too busy ogling after a certain redhead to notice…Can we go into the living room now?"

James shrugged again. "Okay – and I'll apologize."

"Not now!"

"_Not_ now?"

"No! You have to do it when the two of you are alone so the discussion can go further, _and_ you have to do it when a certain drinking partner of yours is not in the room."

"Right. So we can go into the living room now and I _shan't_ apologize."

"Yes."

"Okay." James stood there, looking at nothing in particular, lost in thought.

"Try walking in there _now_ Prongs." Sirius muttered, nudging his friend in the shoulder.

"Oh. Right." James turned around and walked towards the living room, the light from the flashlight bobbing in front of him. Sirius rolled his eyes, and followed.

The living room was softly illuminated by a large, orange fire burning warmly in the fireplace, casting the room in a soft orange glow. Lily was curled up on the sofa, a large comforter pulled over her lap. Arabella sat on a thick armchair next to the couch Lily was on, with a smaller blanket pulled over her. Erica was lying across another armchair next to Arabella's chair, twirling her black hair around her forefinger. The girls were involved in a quiet conversation.

Peter sat on a smaller couch across the room. His head was slightly tilted to the side and he wore a blank expression on his face; he was listening to the girls chatter.

Once in the room, James switched off his flashlight. He sunk down on the couch next to Lily's feet, and pulled some of the blue blanket over his legs as well. Sirius remained standing and looked over at Peter, who did not notice. "You made a fire Wormtail? I'm impressed." Peter's head snapped to attention at being addressed, and his face lost its previous blank expression.

"Of course not," Erica said to Sirius. He looked over at her. She placed her hands on the arm of the chair and arched her back, stretching. "I made the fire."

Sirius chuckled and sat down on the black lazy boy across the room. He spun it around so that he was facing the group. He pulled the lever on the side of the chair, and it immediately sprung back into a relaxed, leaning position. He would really miss the thing once they went back to Hogwarts.

"Now," Lily said, pulling herself into a straighter sitting position, "what are these cute little names you guys call each other – I've always wondered."

Sirius, James, and Peter all exchanged glances. Then, they put on their most proven defensive tactic – charming smiles. "Well," Sirius said, imitating the way Lily had begun, "if we told you what they meant, we would be forced to kill you." He winked at Lily. "And James would be absolutely devastated by that event." James gave him a dirty look.

"We can tell you what they are though." Peter informed the girls.

"In case you haven't already figured them out." Sirius added, shrugging.

"Peter over there," James said, jabbing his thumb across the room, "is called Wormtail. Remus is our dear old Moony. Sirius is Padfoot. And I am the much admired Prongs."

At the mention of Sirius's nickname, Arabella tilted her head to the side and frowned slightly. Sirius watched her nervously. A moment after James had finished, she looked up quickly and stared across the room at Sirius, in a state that nearly equaled surprise. Nearly.

As unobtrusively as he could, Sirius held his finger up to his mouth. Arabella gave him a resentful glare – it would take her a long time before she forgot the last time she kept quiet for him – but nodded her head nonetheless. Sirius felt relieved, yet still uneasy at the same time. The woman was too smart for her own good. More importantly, she was too smart for _his_ own good.

"Where is Remus?" Eric wondered, twirling her hair around her finger. She eyed all three Marauders at the same time with her strange gold eyes, which was quite a feat because they were dispersed throughout the room.

Each shrugged, nearly at the same time. "I haven't seen him since about four this afternoon." James informed her. He looked over to Lily. "Where's Brenna?"

It had not occurred to Sirius until then that Brenna was missing. After their…falling out, to put it nicely…she had been avoiding him like the he had dragon pox. This didn't bother him in the least; he was none too keen to see her either.

"That's what we were talking about," Arabella said. "I haven't seen her properly in a good while – nearly three weeks – but Lily and Erica haven't seen her since breakfast. It's rather odd." James nodded.

Without saying anything, Lily pulled the comforter off her lap and stood up. She grabbed the flashlight off James's lap – he grinned madly – and walked out of the room, switching on the small light. After a few moments of the remaining people in the room looking after her and wondering where she'd gone to, she returned, thumbing the off switch of the flashlight, and sat down again. "Your car is gone. They must've gone out."

Everyone was mildly surprised at the announcement. Erica looked over to the window behind Peter, where a small gap in the red curtains revealed a fierce display of wind and snow. "I hope they're all right." She said aloud. Everyone nodded and commented in agreement.

"Well," Sirius began, "since there is no way to check on them and it's useless to worry, how's about we play a game." Everyone nodded and smiled. James laughed. "I say everyone must answer the following question: Where's the weirdest place you've ever had sex?"

Everyone groaned and muttered phrases condemning Sirius. He just grinned. "I'll start if everyone's nervous about it."

"No!" Most people objected, nearly at the same time.

Surprising everyone, Peter answered the question. "Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

For a moment, everyone stared at him in shock. Then Sirius ventured, "Well that brings whole new meaning to the name Moaning Myrtle, doesn't it?" They laughed.

Peter rolled his eyes once he was done giggling. "Don't be thick Sirius. It wasn't 'with' her. And telling with who's not part of the game, so you'll never know."

"As if I'd want to." Sirius quipped back.

"I'll go." James volunteered. Nobody responded; they just waited for him to continue. After a moment he did, with a broad smile on his face, "The bar counter at The Three Broomsticks."

Once again, the room burst into laughter. "Remind me to never get a Butterbeer there again." Lily remarked between giggles.

"Please tell me it was after closing hours." Erica pleaded.

"And _not_ with Madame Rosmerta," Sirius added.

James shook his head at his friend. "Of course not. You know she only thinks we're funny."

Sirius nodded sadly. "Shame too. That woman has curves in all the right places."

"Oi!" Peter objected. "Watch it. We're in mixed company." His eyes shifted to the girls.

"Thank you, Peter." Arabella said.

"Now you go." Sirius said, eyeing her. Instead of giving him her usual dark look, she glanced the other way.

"Yeah, come on AJ." Erica urged her friend, grinning madly. Sirius had the strong impression that Erica already knew the story. Lily was unsuccessfully hiding a laugh with her hand. Her eyes were watering.

All the guys in the room looked at her, willing her to answer. Finally, she threw up her hands in defeat. "The Hogwarts's lake. R - I mean someone and I were swimming and…" she drifted off. The boys were rolling with laugher.

"That is quite a place." Sirius commented once he quit laughing, eyeing her. "I think I might like to try that."

Lily and Erica were both staring at Arabella, with raised brows. After a moment, trying to suppress a smile, Erica said, in a sing-song voice, "That's not what you told us." Arabella made a don't-go-there expression, but she was too late. The boys were leaning forward to hear her better. Sirius stood up and pulled his favourite chair halfway across the room to get closer.

Giving Erica the evil eye, Arabella said simply, "That's because I told you in 5th year and this happened in 6th."

This comment did nothing to abate the curiosity. Peter and James gave her a long chorus of 'what'd you say, what'd you say'. When that failed, they switched to badgering Erica and Lily about it. Sirius leaned back in his chair, starting to doubt about whether he really wanted to hear about her escapades.

"She slept with a Sly – oh wait, this is supposed to be anonymous – she slept with a certain someone in our year – not our house obviously – on the Gryffindor house table in the Great Hall." Erica said finally.

Not even bothering to chastise her friend, Arabella buried her head in her hands, hiding her face from those in the room. James made various cat calls and Peter made a few comments of his one. Sirius pulled the lever on the side of his chair and came into a sitting position. His elbow rested on the armchair and his finger curled around his lip. Finally, he said, "I've not even done it there."

Arabella looked up, uncovering her face. "If you do, I strongly advise locking the doors." Her comment elicited more laughter from the others.

Once it finally died down, James looked around the room. "I believe that leaves three more. Padfoot, old pal?"

Sirius grinned in his charmingly devilish way and said "On a broomstick."

"Is that even possible?"

He winked. "Oh yes ma Belle – very possible. We should try it some time."

Arabella shook her head. "I think I'll have to pass."

Everyone else was laughing too hard to speak. "I think," James panted out, managing to control his laughter for a moment, "We have a winner. Unless of course," he looked between Lily and Erica for a moment, "one of you can top that." Lily shook her head.

"Dumbledore's office, sixth year," Erica said. Everyone stopped laughing and stared at her in surprise. Then they burst into an even louder fit of laughter. Eric grinned at them and shrugged.

When they could finally talk again, Peter addressed her. "I hope it was with someone besides the headmaster himself, because that's…just all kinds of ick."

Erica rolled her eyes. "Of course it wasn't with him. That's quite disgusting. No he called me and, well, someone else, in the office, but then McGonagall came to get him, so we were left alone…It just…happened…I think Dumbledore knows though, because whenever he sees me, he gives me this weird smile and shakes his head."

"You won." Arabella told her, grinning. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Sirius looked over at Lily. "Now, I believe, that you are the only one left to go."

Lily looked uncomfortable, and pulled more of the blanket around her. "I…er…haven't."

Sirius, James, and Peter all looked enormously surprised. Peter turned his attention to the storm outside the window, but James and Sirius just continued to stare as if they had never seen a creature like her before. Aware of her friend's keen discomfort, Arabella said, "She's a hopeless romantic. Stop staring, Black. James, I know it's hard for you to _not_ look at her, but if you could just stop looking so surprised, I'm sure she would appreciate that."

Slowly, Sirius looked up at Arabella as if he had just heard what she said. James, however, turned his head around, and glared at her. 'Thank you' Lily mouthed to her friend. Arabella shrugged.

Grinning, Sirius said, "That reminds me of a game we _ought_ to play. Who did you lose your virginity to?"

"No!" Arabella objected. Her no was followed by a series of similar statements from around the room.

"How about 'would you rather'?" Erica suggested.

"I've got one." James said immediately. "Would you rather take the giant squid on a date or get caught shagging in an abandoned classroom."

"Shagging." Arabella and Sirius replied at the same time, while everyone else said 'squid'. Everyone else started laughing at the two of them. Sirius and Arabella eyed each other, and then started to laugh as well.

"Okay," Erica said. "I've got another one. Arabella, you can't answer this because I believe you have done, quite literally, both. Would you rather shag Lucius Malfoy or Severus Snape?" Arabella stuck out her tongue at her friend.

"Malfoy." Lily said immediately. At least he was upfront about his beliefs, appalling as they were.

"Malfoy." Peter agreed after a moment.

James and Sirius looked disgusted, but slowly both said, "Malfoy." After a moment, Sirius added, "at least his hair's clean."

Arabella turned her head towards Erica. "And you?"

"Malfoy, duh." Eric replied immediately. "Which one was better?"

Arabella hit her friend on the knee. "Would you rather get caught shagging Dumbledore by Slughorn or get caught shagging Slughorn by Dumbledore?"

* * *

"Okay Brenna, you know I am well known for being smart." Remus informed the girls sitting across from him. She nodded, smiling. "Well, I think I did something idiotic by driving us out in this storm." Brenna couldn't help herself; she laughed. Remus grinned back at her, wrinkling his nose.

They had found their way to a local tea parlor and settled down for a cuppa. It ended up lasting a couple of hours, and by that time, the streets were snowed in; they couldn't drive home. Neither minded much because they wanted to avoid the people in the house as much as possible.

The power had gone out an hour before. At first, they had not noticed because the parlor was lit mostly by candles to give it a cozy atmosphere. Only when the old woman who owned the shop approached them and asked Remus to help her build a fire in the grate, did they realize.

Once he helped the owner build the fire, Remus returned. The shop was rather warm, but he grabbed both his and Brenna's coats from the rack by the door, just in case. They continued on with the conversation they'd been having, covering a range of topics from getting their acceptance letters to Hogwarts to their most embarrassing moments.

After Brenna stopped laughing, Remus looked at her, a much more serious look on his face than the one he had worn all afternoon. He sighed and said, "You know that you're going to have to apologize to her eventually." He said directly.

Though Brenna quite liked his blunt manner, she had wanted to avoid this topic all afternoon, and had evaded it quite successfully. She picked up her napkin, and held the corner of it to the small candle burning in front of her. Once it lit, she blew out the flame. She continued this several times.

"Brenna." Remus said.

"I thought we had this conversation earlier."

"Only half of it," Remus replied, with a small smile on his lips.

She looked up at him and gave him a guilty smile. "Okay. I know I'm avoiding the subject. I also know that I'm going to have to forgive AJ sometimes. We _have_ been friends for a really long time." She sighed.

"But…" Remus supplied helpfully.

Brenna couldn't help herself; she laughed. "But, I don't want to forgive her just yet."

"It's been three weeks. Why aren't you still mad at Sirius?"

Looking directly at him, she shook her head. "Oh, I _am_. Believe me, I am. It's just…" Remus waited patiently for her to continue, not saying anything. "Well, I expected it from him. It's his M.O. – he sleeps with a girl, and then he cheats on her, without so much as looking back." Remus nodded. Though Sirius was his good friend, he could still see his faults. "It's actually quite ridiculous, but I'm flattered, for some unknown reason, that he tried to keep it a secret."

"That _is_ ridiculous. And I wish I could say I understand that, but I don't."

Laughing again, Brenna shook her head. "I don't even understand it. Anyways, back to AJ. She is the one who always protects us. She dumped Snape once he called Lily a Mudblood, and I suspect she punched him because he had a black eye for weeks afterwards. I got so used to AJ protecting us and always getting in a row with our lousy exes, that I just didn't see it coming."

"Not that I'm siding with her," Remus began, "but you can't say that she didn't fight with Sirius."

Brenna grinned. "Well, that's true. But in all seriousness, I was just so shocked that she would keep such a secret from me that I didn't know how to handle it. I imagine I handled it rather poorly."

"Well you did." Remus told her. She laughed and slapped him lightly on the forearm. Rubbing his arm, he continued, "But, it was quite a shock and no one expected you to handle it well. Who could?"

"Hmmm. I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am. I'm the sensitive one out of my group – it's my, how did you put it, M.O." He winked.

"You know, with all that winking you're doing, you're shaping up to be quite a Sirius Black yourself."

"Oi! What did I do to deserve that?"

"Joking." Brenna replied, laughing again.

"Now, you're sure that you're telling me to make up with AJ for my own good and not because you've got a crush on her."

Remus smiled at her, unfazed. "I haven't got a crush on her. I find her breathtakingly beautiful –"

"Of course you do." Brenna replied. "Every guy with _eyes _does."

"Once again, oi! I let you finish, now let me complete a statement." He responded. Brenna looked sheepish. "But, she's not the only one. Your group of friends has to be the best looking one in all of Hogwarts." He winked again. "Most of the guys in the school would be jealous of our, and by that I mean Sirius, James, Peter, and my, housing arrangements this year. For all of our previous years too, come to think of it."

Brenna grinned. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." Remus said sincerely, "It's the truth. I'm sure James would agree."

Laughing, Brenna shook her head at him. "Well, that's the truth. When do you think that will happen?"

"As soon as you girls knock some sense into Lily. It's not every day that a girl has some bloke madly in love with her."

"It is for Lily." Brenna mused.

"Exactly. So make her see."

"All right – I shall. Now I have a question for you."

"Cast."

"So, out of your group, you're the nice one. Sirius is the player, James is the love-struck fool, and Peter is the…tag along?"

Remus laughed. "He's just shy."

"If you say so."

"I do."

"Hmmm."

"Well, I've got the same question for you Brenna. AJ's the one who'll stand up for her friends, Lily is the one who'll sacrifice for her friends, and Erica is the one who'll cheer up her friends. Which one are you Brenna?"

Brenna sighed. "I'm the one who fixes problems." She said quietly.

"Then why won't you fix yours?"

* * *

The room was finally quiet. After a long game of random questions, people had slowly drifted off to sleep. Lily had her head resting on James's shoulder. Both were nearly covered by the thick comforter pulled over their bodies. Peter was stretched out on the other couch, snoring softly, and Erica was curled up, catlike, in the oversize chair she had been sitting in.

The fire was burning low; the room was barely lit by the orange glow. Arabella was resting her chin on her hand and staring at the storm through the gap in the curtains, lost in thought. She saw Erica shiver, and she covered her friend in a blanket folded over the back of the chair.

"You're still awake?" Sirius asked her from across the room.

Arabella looked over at him surprised. "I hadn't realized you were awake." She told him after a moment. He did not reply, just gave her a smile. She pointed over to Lily and James. "Do you know where Remus put the camera? I want to take a picture of them. They're so adorable."

Pointing to a coffee table where the camera was sitting, Sirius replied, "You do realize that they're not dating, don't you?"

"Well, not yet." Arabella corrected.

Sirius shrugged. "And you swear you're not using it to blackmail?"

Arabella shot him a wry look. "Of course not," she said. Sirius just shrugged again and leaned back in his chair. Arabella positioned herself across the room from the sleeping pair and snapped a couple of pictures. The bright flash of light dazzled her and Sirius, but James and Lily did not wake up.

"I think you blinded me." Sirius muttered, his hand over his eyes.

Rolling her eyes, Arabella sighed. "Don't whine. I did not."

"I think I'll decide whether you did or not, seeing as how they're my eyes." He replied. He was blinking rapidly in an effort to regain his vision. Arabella held back a laugh, but Sirius looked up at her anyways. He narrowed his eyes. "I heard that." He informed her.

Looking innocent, Arabella asked, "Heard what?" She clasped her hands behind her back.

"Don't try to look innocent."

Arabella grinned. "So you can see then?"

"Oh, hush up."

Without replying, Arabella walked out of the room. She heard Sirius get out of his chair and follow her. Ignoring him, she walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It did not light up. "I suppose that this runs of that tricity stuff, as well." She muttered to no one in particular.

"Talking to yourself, ma Belle? That's the first sign of insanity." Sirius said from behind her.

With a bottle of water in hand, she turned around to look at him. He was leaning against the center island, arms crossed, with a grin across his face. She could not see him very well because neither had grabbed a flashlight and the moon was hidden by the storm's cloud. "I wasn't talking to anyone."

"I believe that's worse, ma Belle."

She sighed and walked towards the island. She did not reply until she was sitting on the marble countertop. "The power that keeps the fridge cool is out, so everything in it is warming up."

"Even the beer?" Sirius asked, joking. Arabella rolled her eyes in response. Sirius rushed towards the fridge and opened it. He felt a beer bottle and sighed, muttering something about it being warm. "Would you like one, ma Belle?"

"No, I would not; water is fine. And would you stop calling me that!" If it was possible, she yelled at him while still keeping her voice low.

Shutting the door to the refrigerator, Sirius turned around. He was holding a bottle of water. "Oh yes, I forgot. You get a little tipsy." He grinned at her, and winked.

"Tipsy? No, no, I would have to say I get smashed."

"Indeed you do. You have a really low alcohol tolerance – it's because you're so fragile."

"Fragile? I'm _not_ fragile!" She snapped at him. She could not see the amused smile on his lips.

He held up his hands, somewhere in between defense and surrender. "I meant that you're small and thin. Because you are small, you cannot hold as much alcohol as someone larger, like me, for example." He walked over and leaned against the island, next to her legs.

"I'm not that short. I'm five foot seven." She muttered, somewhat resentfully.

"I suppose you aren't. But you are a good nine inches shorter than me, which was my point." He said carefully. The girl had a fierce temper, and he did not particularly want to spark it. After a moment, she laughed. Sirius grinned and asked "Any reason you dislike being drunk?"

"You mean besides the fact that I wake up with a god-awful hangover and that I can never remember what I did?" She paused. "I make quite idiotic mistakes when I'm drunk."

"Dare I ask?"

"You can pry all you'd like, but I won't say." It was Sirius's turn to laugh. That was quite typical of her. As he laughed, she looked over at him. "Hmmm." She eyed him for a moment. "You are tall."

"Not exactly the observant one are you ma Belle?"

"Will you quit calling me that?"

"No."

Arabella let out a derisive snort. "Well that's probably true." She muttered. Sirius winked. "So tell me, what else have I not observed?"

The first thought that came to Sirius's head involved Remus's crush on her, but her did not reveal it; the Marauders always kept secrets for one another. Instead, he replied, "Us. You seem to be spending a lot of time with me in the dead of the night, once everyone is asleep." He grinned suggestively.

"Remind me not to make a habit of it." She groaned.

"You already have ma Belle." He informed her, sounding more sincere than was usual for him.

At that moment, the clouds broke and the light from the moon shone through the window above the sink. It illuminated Arabella, who sat directly where the moon was shining. Wisps of her hair had fallen from the loose bun she had tied it back in hours before. A particularly long strand, wavy from being locked in a bun, fell in front of her ear.

Without thinking about it, Sirius reached up and tucked the hair behind her ear. He held his hand there for a moment, just below her ear. They looked at each other, without saying a word. Then, the moon was covered by the dark clouds again and the wind made a particularly vicious howl. Arabella jumped, and Sirius felt goose bumps rise along her neck. She delicately slid away from him, and slipped off the counter. Backing away from him, she said, "I…er…I think I'm going up to bed. Have a good night."

Sirius was left standing in the kitchen, his hands resting on the marble counter.

* * *

**Special thanks to:**

**Jamie** – That's exactly how I feel about it. Plus, any brother of Sirius can't honestly be that bad, can he? Didn't think so. Oh, Remus is a doll, isn't he? If only all guys were like that…Girls can dream, eh? Thank you so much for your review. I hope you liked this chapter. It's rather long again. Good. Review again! Thanks.


	14. Snow Days

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 14 – Snow Days~

"_Every woman is wrong until she cries, and then she is right, instantly" ~ Thomas C. Haliburton_

Arabella had never really held anything against the sun. It warmed the earth, shed light, and all that good stuff, yadda, yadda, yadda. But said goddamned sun was pouring light through the gap in her curtains. It didn't wake her up. Worse, it reminded her that she hadn't fallen asleep. So, no, she did not _hate_ the sun, but she was going to take her anger out on the bleeding sun, Merlin be damned.

With a rather dramatic sigh, she pulled the covers off of her and swung her legs over the bed, slowly placing her feet on the floor. The second they touched the freezing marble, she pulled them up off the floor. _'Warm the earth, my ass'_ she thought bitterly, glaring at the floor for lack of a better focal point. She stretched out on her bed, with her head at the foot of it, and leaned over, dragging a small pile of clothing onto the bed. She grabbed a shirt and a lacy pair of knickers from the pile and transformed them into a nice pair of thick woolen socks.

Magic really was progressive.

With the socks pulled over her feet, Arabella placed them on the floor again. She walked slowly across the cold wood to the window, too tired to yawn. She yanked the curtains open, nearly pulling them off the metal rods. They revealed a crisp winter scene, sparkling snow spread gingerly across the ground and coating the trees. Picturesque some would say; Arabella preferred to think of it as a kick while she was down.

Glaring one last time at the snowy ground, Arabella turned to head out of the room. As she walked past her bed, she pushed the clothes to the ground and smoothed out the sheets. Then, as there was nothing else to do in the room and she could not feign sleep with the light pouring in, she left. She pulled the door gently shut behind her, and turned to leave. Across the wooden railings to the other end of the house, her eyes fell on his bedroom door.

She scowled bitterly. Then Arabella realized that nothing had _really_ happened to make her angry. Yet, there she was, angry and damning everything from the sun to the floor. She grimaced, angry at herself for being angry with him for doing nothing to be angry about and blaming everything that had not been involved for her anger.

No, it wasn't the sun's fault – goddamned moon.

Trying not to think about it, or at least telling herself she was trying not to think about it and one really couldn't help thinking about something when it was the only thing occupying one's mind, Arabella walked towards the staircase. She walked into the kitchen automatically, still _not _thinking about it. She was just tired. Nothing had happened. Sleep usually cured things like this. But could she fall asleep? _No_. That would be too simple.

Once in the kitchen, studiously avoiding staring at the island where she had been sitting, she walked along the marble counter to the coffee machine. God bless coffee. Grasping the counter, she leaned back, eye level with the machine, trying to figure out how to turn the thing on. Spotting a button clearly labeled ON, she pressed it. Nothing happened.

"It's not going to work." Lily announced from behind her.

Arabella turned around, tired eyes on her friend. She was ridiculously happy that it was not Sirius, but then she realized that of course it wouldn't be Sirius because his voice lacked certainty feminine qualities that Lily's did not. She smiled a belated greeting, but let the grin slide off her face as she asked, "Why not?" Even to her own ears, she sounded near misery. Over a coffee maker. There was one more thing to damn.

Lily grinned. "It's the whole electricity thing. Pretty much everything runs on it, including the coffee machine. I'm sorry."

"How bloody inconvenient." Arabella moaned. She placed her elbows on the island, and cupped her chin in her hand. "You're way too perky for the morning, by the way."

Laughing, Lily nodded. "I know – you've only told me that every morning for the past six and a half years, though it's not like you're exactly morning girl material." She pulled a chair out, and climbed into it, facing Arabella.

"Tell me about." Arabella sent a withering glare over her shoulder at the unanimated coffee maker. "I would be a lot happier if I could get some caffeine. Not all of us wake up all bright-eyed and bushy tailed."

Lily pointed at the fridge. "We have soda."

Arabella walked to the fridge, yanked it open, and grabbed a can of coke from the bottom shelf. "Not exactly cold, but what the hell, I'll take what I can get. It's too cold out here anyways. I suppose that runs on electricity too." It was not a question – the whole sodding muggle world ran on electricity, the poor beasts.

"You might be less cold if you wore more clothes." Lily informed her friend matter-of-factly, trying to hide the smile playing across her lips. Arabella looked down. She had on a robe, untied and open, black shorts, a green shirt, and her woolen socks. Looking back up, she narrowed her eyes, trying to seem mad, but was smiling as well. As she looked at Lily, she realized that she too was wearing shorts and a t-shirt as pajamas. Arabella was going to comment on it, but then decided to change tactics.

"Did you sleep well Lily?"

Eyes wide, Lily stopped smiling. She eyed her friend nervously. "I…er, I slept all – all right." She stuttered. "I fell asleep on the couch."

Arabella nodded her head; Lily was not sure if it was in agreement or surprise that was surely feigned. "Didjya now?"

"Er…yes."

"I bet that was rather cold. Too bad there was nobody there to keep you warm throughout the night." Arabella winked.

"Oh AJ, will you stop?" Lily said loudly, frustrated, lifting her arms in protest. Arabella burst into laughter, clutching her stomach in one hand and her coke in the other. Not appreciating the laughter in the least, Lily started to talk again. "Arabella stop! Honestly. So I fell asleep; it's nothing big, just sleeping. Now, really!"

Arabella continued to laugh, but spoke to her friend. "All right, all right. No need to get your knickers in a twist. Well, more of a twist anyways." She grinned mercilessly at Lily, setting her can of soda on the counter to avoid dropping it.

"AJ!"

"Yes, Lily, I'll stop now. I just couldn't resist that one."

"Swear?"

"Of course I do. Look, I'm changing the topic right now: did Erica finish studying for that test of hers last night?"

"She didn't need to." Lily replied, relieved that Arabella had dropped the rather uncomfortable topic. "We haven't got school today."

Confused, yet not even slightly disappointed, Arabella looked up. "No school? Why not?"

"Because it snowed," Lily said, gesturing towards the window over the sink. Arabella glanced over her shoulder through the window; there was not much to see; it was a thick, white-powdered landscape.

After a moment, Arabella looked at Lily again. "And I was always feeling sorry for muggles. They get days off when it snows?"

Lily nodded slowly. Arabella muttered something under her breathe along the lines of 'lucky wankers'. "Remind me again why we go to Hogwarts."

Grinning again, Lily laughed. "It's this whole magic thing, you see."

"Yeah, sure, we're all magical and such. Why can't they teach magic at a day school?"

"Everyone comes from all across the British Isles. We have to provide places for them to stay. That'd be quite a commute."

"I see your point there. _But_, we get storms all the time and the snow comes up to here." He held her hand at the middle of her thigh, and waved it back and forth to emphasize her point. "_So_, I recommend that we live in separate buildings from the classrooms. That way, we couldn't go to class."

Sighing and shaking her head from side to side, Lily looked at Arabella in mock exasperation. "We're _magical_ AJ. We can cast a spell and form a neat little path through the snow."

"They could keep our wands in the classroom!"

Lily laughed. "It's not going to happen. Just embrace this day, AJ, and thank Merlin for the reprieve."

"Right, right, right. One more question: if we can form a nice little neat path through the snow, why don't we when we have to go to Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures?"

Mouth slightly open, Lily's eyes widened in surprise. "We're just _incredibly_ stupid, AJ."

"Don't include me in this. You're the smart one; I blame you for not figuring it all out." Lily still looked surprised. "You're upset about not going to school today aren't you?"

"No." Lily said guiltily. Arabella laughed, and Lily looked at her sheepishly. "Well, it's just ridiculous that a little bit of snow could ruin a perfectly good day for school."

"You say ruin, I say save the world from misery." Arabella replied, sipping her soda. "And by world I mean me…and the other sane students who can appreciate a gift when it's given to them." She set the can down on the counter behind her. "Don't forget, you can still do scholastic activities today."

Lily looked up. "I've already finished my homework. And I won't do yours."

"Don't be so prissy – I wasn't going to ask you to do my homework; I do all my own homework and get good marks Lily, as you very well know. I was _going_, however, to remind you that you promised to tutor a certain dark haired boy with glasses." She winked again. "That should be fun."

Lily tried to look confused, as if she did not know whom her friend was referring to. Aware that she had failed miserably, she shook her head. "You're really awful."

Arabella shrugged in response, still grinning. Lily muttered something bitterly, and pulled a chair out to sit at the island. She glared at Arabella, who stood sipping her soda, pretending not to notice her friend's look and trying to hide her grin.

As the two girls looked at each other in silence, a loud _a-hem_ sounded from the doorway. They both looked up towards the entrance at Sirius. Arabella quickly tucked her hair behind her ears. Sirius watched her; his smile faltered for a moment and he narrowed his eyes. "Good morning ladies. Having a staring match, are you?" He asked, still standing in the doorway. He looked at Arabella.

"Not a staring match." Lily informed him, looking over her shoulder towards him. "I'm trying to convince AJ that she's an awful person." She stared back at Arabella, grinning.

Walking across the kitchen to the fridge, Sirius laughed. "Ma belle? Awful? And I always thought I was the only one who realized the truth." Lily stuck her tongue out at Arabella, who immediately reciprocated. Sirius, glancing slightly at their exchange, opened the refrigerator door, removed a bottle of water, and twisted off the lid. Turning to face Lily, he leaned against the counter next to Arabella. "She teased you about James didn't she?" Though he directed the question towards Lily, he stared at Arabella out of the corner of his eye. She was looking away from him too intently for it to be anything but deliberate.

"Well aren't you perceptive." Lily muttered sarcastically.

"One of my many qualities," Sirius said to her. Again, he stared at Arabella. Through their short conversation, she had managed to scoot down the corner away from him. Sirius scowled slightly.

"James can be rather perceptive as well, Lily – how else could he be so aware of _your_ finer qualities?" Arabella mused with a grin. "Of course, you would know better than me." Sighing in defeat, Lily sunk her forehead onto the marble. Sirius jammed his fist against his mouth to keep from laughing, and Arabella grinned devilishly at her friend.

"We're back on this, are we?" Lily asked from the table.

"Well we haven't teased you about it for such a long while that I feel the need to make up for lost time." Arabella replied finally, once she and Sirius stopped laughing.

"I can't wait." Lily muttered.

Grinning, Arabella drank the last of her soda. She placed the empty can on the counter and looked over towards the fridge. Sirius was staring at her, deep in thought. Arabella found herself unable to move. Sirius smiled at her, "Another drink, ma Belle?"

"Just water please." Her voice was quiet, as if reluctant to actually address him.

Still smiling slightly, Sirius leaned over and opened the refrigerator door for the second time that morning. He grabbed a bottle, shut the door, and held it out to her. Arabella stared at it for a second before she inched forward to grab it. She took it, careful to avoid touching his fingers; Sirius gripped it for a moment longer. "You're welcome, Belle."

Arabella whispered a nearly inaudible "thank you" in reply. She cleared her throat. "I think I'm going to go shower." She announced to the room.

Lily, too immersed in her own shame to think much of this quieter-than-usual exchange, lifted her head. "You've stopped attacking me already?"

Arabella smiled, yet looked a little dazed. "It's no fun when you don't reply."

Lily grinned and let out a small laugh. "Ah, seven years and I've finally found the perfect defense." She laughed again. "The water will be cold; it heats because of electricity."

With a withering glare at nothing in particular, Arabella sighed. She was fast on the path of damning things again. "Is there anything in the muggle world that doesn't?"

Before Lily could reply, there was a humming noise. All three of them looked up. The lights flashed on and off a couple of times before steadily coming on. The refrigerator started to hum and the coffee maker dripped coffee into the mug below it. It suddenly seemed quite loud compared to the still. After a moment, Arabella grinned. "I'll take that as a sign that I really need to shower."

Laughing, Lily nodded. "I'm coming with you." She glanced at Sirius, who was grinning widely. "Separate showers Sirius." She told him, shaking her head.

Sirius nodded in reply, trying his best to look sincere. "Of course."

Arabella and Lily walked out of the room towards the staircase, talking. Sirius remained in the kitchen, forehead wrinkled in a frown.

* * *

Arabella walked down the staircase, fully showered and dressed. The house was relatively quiet, except for loud snores emanating from the living room where Peter was clearly still sleeping. She tip-toed the rest of the way down, telling herself it was to not wake Peter.

At the bottom of the stairs, she turned automatically towards the kitchen. A delicious smell was wafting from that direction, and her stomach grumbled in response. "Please don't let him be in there, please don't let him be in there" she mumbled, hands lifted in prayer. She turned through the doorway and came across not one, but two Marauders at the stove, cooking an assortment of fatty, delicious foods. "Kind and loving Father my arse," Arabella muttered as she seated herself at the island, facing their backs.

James and Sirius both turned around at her muffled remark. "Morning AJ." James greeted her chirpily, grinning broadly. "Did you say something?"

"Smells good," Arabella lied, grinning at James and avoiding Sirius, who apparently, did not take hints well.

"Besides being devilishly handsome, charming, witty, and _perceptive_" Sirius told her, refusing to be ignored, "I also happen to be one fantastic cook."

"I'll bet." Arabella replied, closing her eyes. Reopening them, she said to James, "You're quite chipper this morning." James just grinned and added salt to the eggs he was making. "This wouldn't have anything to do with falling asleep next to Lily now would it?"

"I prefer to say that I slept _with_ her." James replied, failing at his attempt to act nonchalant.

"Well," Arabella replied dryly, picking up a piece of toast that was piled high on a plate in front of her and absent-mindedly tearing of the crust, "speaking as her best friend, I can guarantee that you will never _actually_ sleep with her if you go around saying that. Better stick to next to."

Not at all put out, James laughed. His good humour catching, Arabella grinned slightly and popped a piece of crust into her mouth. "Jamsie, ma boy," Sirius said loudly, slapping James on the back and grinning widely, "how does it feel to have the girl you have been mercilessly in love with for the past six and a half years finally acknowledge you?" He place his spatula in front of James's mouth with such zeal that a small piece of bacon sticking to it flew across the room and landed on top of a vase of flowers.

Involuntarily, Arabella laughed.

"Well," James began, ignoring the eggs that were beginning to burn behind him, "I would have to say it feels like getting my Hogwarts letter, passing my Apparition test, and all the pranks we've ever played on Snivellus combined."

Sirius brought the spatula to his face. "There you have it ladies, gents, and ma lovely Belle," – Arabella rolled her eyes – "the live confessions straight from the heart of James William Potter. What will happen when he actually gets a date with the girl of his dreams? Drum roll, please –" James banged his palms furiously on the counter, "Turn in next week for True Hogwarts Story: James Potter."

"I think you've spent too much time with the telly." Arabella replied, grinning despite herself.

"Without a doubt," Sirius agreed. He spun back to face the stove and turned off the gas with a flourish. He lifted up the pan in front of James and held it up to eye level. "Eh, James, you burned the eggs." He scraped the pan with the spatula he was clutching, unsticking blackened eggs from the pan.

"I was in the middle of a very important interview, thank you very much." James replied in an exaggerated snooty voice, tossing his nose back in the air and folding his arms. Sirius flicked a piece of burnt egg at him, put the skillet on the counter, and ran around to the other side of the island before James could react.

James delicately pulled the egg off of his cheek and placed it back in the pan. With a glare at Sirius that was undermined by his grin, James turned to Arabella. "Do you know where Lily is?"

"She's upstairs showering." Arabella said. James turned to leave the room. "And she probably does _not_ want you barging in on her while she's in the shower." She added hastily.

James continued to walk. "_I'm_ going to shower."

"Sure you are." Arabella muttered as he left the room, shaking her head. She turned back to the counter and suddenly realized that she was once again alone in the room with Sirius Black. '_Goddamned Potter'_, she thought vehemently. It couldn't be healthy to have this much alone time with an arch nemesis.

Sirius, who had walked back around the counter to the stove, had his back to her. Before she could decide whether to walk out hungry or remain in a room with Sirius Black and eat, Sirius turned around again. He leaned against the stove, arms crossed, and stared at her. She was wearing a deep purple sweater with a higher collar than usual. Noticing his gaze, Arabella crossed her arms and stared back. He would have found it enormously funny, except that her hair was 'inexplicably' pulled sharply away from her face. "Your hair's pulled back." Sirius said after a moment. His voice stuck in his throat and came out too deep.

Caught by surprise, Arabella unfolded her arms and traced her fingers over her French braid. "Pardon?" she asked after a moment, avoiding his eyes.

"You're wearing your hair pulled back today." Sirius repeated nonchalantly, as one would talk about the weather.

Chancing a look at his face, Arabella noticed that his face seemed completely devoid of expression. Realizing that her hand was still running along her braid, she abruptly brought it down and clasped it in her lap. "I was, er, trying out a new style?" She replied.

Sirius shrugged. "Coffee, ma Belle?"

Automatically, Arabella rolled her eyes at his indefatigable use of that ridiculous nickname, but nodded none-the-less. "Thanks."

Sirius turned around and poured two cups of coffee. "Black?" He asked, turning to face her.

Arabella shook her head and made a face. "No, I hate black. I need quite a lot of sugar and cream."

"I've got the sugar; the milk's in the fridge." Sirius said, turning around again. Arabella slid off her seat, and walked to the fridge. Opening the door, she bent down and searched for the milk, finally locating it at the back of the top shelf behind a bottle of juice and several cans of American beer. She grabbed it and shut the door with her hip as she turned around to find Sirius's eyes on her. Or rather, the location that her butt had been occupying.

Noticing that she had turned around, Sirius lifted his eyes to hers and grinned. "Find the milk, sweet Belle?"

"Yes; thank you for checking." Arabella replied. She glared at him, but also barely suppressed her grin; boys would never miss an opportunity to make total prats of themselves.

Sirius ignored her glare and smiled. "You're welcome, ma Belle." Arabella rolled her eyes again and walked back to her seat, where a can of sugar sat next to a steaming cup of coffee, with some frivolous adage decorating the mug. Sitting down, she spooned a generous amount of sugar into her cup and was about to pour in even more milk when a rancid smell caught her attention. She lifted the milk jug up to her face and sniffed, immediately making a face. She set it down on the counter again, deciding to forgo it. Sirius laughed, opened a drawer he was standing next to, and retrieved a spoon for her. "Here you go." He said, handing her the spoon. Arabella nodded a thank you. "You don't drink coffee much, do you ma Belle?"

Making a face at the still bitter, milk-less coffee, Arabella swallowed and nodded. "No. I hate the stuff. But I'm quite tired because I didn't sleep at all last night –" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Arabella paused, mentally slapping herself. After a quick moment of indecision, she decided to act like nothing happened, and took another large gulp of coffee to disguise her pause.

Sirius Black, fool though he was, was not fooled. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, he set down his black coffee on the island. "That's ghastly when that happens, isn't it? Any particular reason you couldn't fall asleep?" Sirius asked mildly; he was much too pleased with the news.

Blatantly ignoring him, Arabella added more sugar to her coffee and stirred. "The storm kept me awake."

"Really? You're scared by a bit of rain? Or perhaps it's the loud noises that frighten you?"

"No," Arabella said quickly, "no. I'm not scared of storms. I like them. I stayed up to listen to it all night."

Sirius did not reply; he took a long sip of coffee. They both knew she was lying.

Suddenly anxious, Arabella grabbed the milk bottle and tossed it into the rubbish bin. She walked back to the island, and grabbed her coffee. "I think I'm going to go for a walk." She said in an offhand way, walking out of the kitchen.

Immediately, Sirius walked out of the kitchen towards the coat rack in the front. "That might be a little difficult Belle; the snow probably comes up to your hip."

"I'm sure I'll manage." Arabella replied, setting her mug down on the long thin table. She hastily pulled on her coat. Sirius did likewise. "Where do you think you're going?" Arabella asked him, wrapping a scarf around her neck.

It took a moment for Sirius to reply because he was holding his gloves in his mouth as he pulled on his hat. Taking his gloves from his mouth, he replied "I'm going on a walk as well, ma Belle."

Though he couldn't see her face because she was pulling on boots, Sirius was sure that Arabella was scowling. "The snows deep; it'll probably be hard for you to walk." She repeated, straightening.

"I'm taller than you. Besides, I've got to come with you; you know, protect you from the murderers and such that are undoubtedly lurking on our front lawn." He replied, giving her a wink.

Infuriated, Arabella grabbed her coffee cup. "I don't need you. I'll simply throw scalding coffee," she began, yanking open the front door with unnecessary force, "on them." Her words trailed off as she looked at who stood on the front porch.

Brenna stood in front of Remus, her house key posed to enter the lock. She looked equally surprised to see the door suddenly open before her. "I told you that we could've knocked." Remus said after a moment.

Brenna did not reply. She stared at Arabella, who stared back, coffee cup and argument with Sirius forgotten. Slowly, Brenna looked back to Remus who nodded. She gave a slight nod back, and faced her friend. "AJ, would you like to talk?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

Two hours later, Arabella and Brenna were hugging and apologizing rapidly over one another. They broke apart grinning. "I really am sorry, AJ." Brenna said for the umpteenth time. "I shouldn't have let some stupid bloke come between us."

"I know. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have let a total wanker convince me he that wasn't being a git." Arabella said. She and Brenna both started laughing. There laughter was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Brenna rolled her eyes and opened it, revealing a groggy Erica.

"Hello, sleeping beauty." Arabella greeted her in a considerably lighthearted manner.

Erica cocked her eyebrow while simultaneously making a shushing noise. "Not so loud, I just woke up. Since when are you so ridiculously merry anyways?" Not waiting for a reply, Erica continued to talk, running her fingers fruitlessly through her bed head. "And by the way, I don't appreciate being left to sleep all day. I thought you were the one who was supposed to never wake up." Erica pointed to Arabella.

"We didn't let you sleep all day." Brenna chimed in. "It's barely nine."

Erica waved her hand in a manner suggesting that the time was not important. "May I shower now?"

"Of course dah-ling. We wouldn't want to ruin your day anymore." Arabella replied in a ridiculous voice.

"I said not so loud!" Erica mumbled again.

"She makes me look like a pleasant human being," Arabella joked.

Brenna and Arabella laughed, leaving the room. "I'm actually going to go shower as well." Brenna informed her. "Do you think the guys would mind if I used their shower."

"I can honestly say that I don't think that they would object." Arabella said with a grin. "And I'm going to go take this off." She motioned to her snow gear, which she had failed to take off before she and Brenna went to talk.

Brenna laughed and walked down the hallway to the guys' room; Arabella walked down the staircase. At the coat rack, she pulled her hat off, messing up her braid and causing a long lock of hair to fall forward. She sighed and blew it out of her face. Once she was fully out of the snow gear and wearing her normal clothes again, she made her way across the large entrance hall to the living room, where the various Marauders were gathered, along with Lily.

Sirius sat in the lazy boy he'd claimed at the start of the school year, facing Remus and Peter. Peter was rubbing sleep out of his eyes and yawning widely, while Remus was laughing at something apparently amusing. Lily and James sat on the floor, gathered around the coffee table, which was spread with chemistry notes and worksheets.

When Arabella entered, Sirius looked up. "Are you and Brenna done talking?"

"Clearly," Arabella replied, grinning.

"I take that it went well?" Lily said, also grinning. Arabella nodded. "Finally!" Lily said, sounding slightly exasperated, yet standing up quickly and rushing to give Arabella a hug. She turned to address James from the doorway. "I'm going to go grab my chemistry book, it's in my room." Lily pointed to the stairwell over her shoulder with her thumb. James nodded and grinned; Lily dashed off to grab her book.

"Of course, you don't need a _book_ for her to demonstrate because you already understand perfectly." Sirius commented once Lily was out of earshot.

From his spot on the floor, James shrugged. "I'll take what I can get." He looked to Arabella. "Don't tell?"

"Didn't hear a word," Arabella replied. She walked into the room a way and leaned on Remus's armchair. "Remus, I love you. I don't know what you said to Brenna, but thank you so much. I owe you big time." She leaned over the chair and kissed him on the forehead.

"You're welcome." He replied, blushing slightly.

Arabella said thanks again and left the room.

Remus, with a dazed smile on his lips, turned to look back at his friends. The twisted look on Sirius's face alarmed him – he looked enraged. "Padfoot? What's the matter with you?"

Sirius shook his head. "I've got an unbelievable headache right now."

Remus's suggested cure was cut off by the noise of someone humming from the floor. As James was the only person on the ground at this time, it was clearly him. His friends stared at him, but he remained utterly oblivious. "Er, Prongs? What's the matter with _you_?" Remus asked, taking a sip of water.

"I slept with Lily last night."

Remus spewed his water out across the room. "You did _WHAT_?"

"He did nothing of the sort." Sirius replied, leaning forward to smack James upside the head. "What he meant to say was that Lily fell asleep next to him on the couch." Remus looked quite relieved. "What did Arabella say about saying that you had actually _slept_ with Lily."

James scowled at his friend. "Perhaps I would remember if you hadn't just smacked me in the bloody head!"

"You deserved it." Sirius replied.

"I did not!"

"Yes you did."

"I did _not_!"

"_Yes_, you did!"

Remus sighed and took another sip of water. He looked to Peter for support of his exasperation at this absurdity, only to find that he was asleep once more. He sighed again.

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

There argument was hushed as Lily walked back into the room. Remus supposed it was more because she was carrying an alarmingly heavy textbook than because his two best friends did not want to continue fighting in front of her. His suspicions were confirmed when Sirius stuck out his tongue at James when Lily wasn't looking.

"Why do my notes have drops of water all over them?" Lily asked, lifting up a sheet of paper. When neither James nor Sirius replied, she turned to Remus. Hiding his water bottle behind his back, he shrugged. With a sigh, Lily turned back to face James and Sirius, who were making rather lurid signs at one another. "That's it!" Lily said loudly, placing one hand on her hip and pointing at the door with the other. "Everyone except James, out!"

Sirius and James immediately stopped silently arguing with one another. Sirius gave Lily his time-perfected puppy-dog eyes, to which she seemed mercilessly immune. "Out!" Lily repeated, pointing towards the door again.

Giving up, Sirius sighed and slowly abandoned his chair. "Help me get Peter out of here." Sirius said to Remus. It took a while for his friend to come to his aid, as Remus was laughing hysterically. Sirius made a few rather threatening curses under his breath, until Remus regained control of his diaphragm enough to help move Peter out of the room.

"Sorry Lily." Sirius apologized as he left. "It was terribly rude of me to distract ickle Jamsiekins when he was trying to study, and for that I shall never forgive myself."

"I'll bet," Lily replied, waving dismissively and settling herself down on the floor next to James.

After somehow maneuvering Peter up the stairs, Sirius left Peter and Remus in their room. He headed across the hallway to the far end of the house. Stopping at the door on the end, Sirius raised his hand and paused, debating on whether to knock. After a moment, he dropped his hand and felt for the handle; it was unlocked. Sirius let himself into the room.

Arabella looked up as she was gathering clothes off the floor of the room. "Please," she said sarcastically, "come in."

* * *

Sirius ignored her sarcasm. Considering their primary mode of communication was shouting, he almost considered her sarcasm polite conversation. Arabella continued to pick clothes up off the floor and put them on her bed, glancing at Sirius. Picking up a couple pairs of jeans off the floor, Sirius asked, "What, exactly, are you doing?"

He tossed the clothes onto the large pile already accumulating on the bed.

"I'm packing," Arabella replied simply.

Sirius glanced at the bed. "You…you call this _packing_?"

"Yes. Once all my clothes are on there, I'll just pull the quilt off the bed, hold all four corners, and drag it down the hallway to my room. See? That's packing."

Sirius shrugged. "If you say so. Do you need help?"

Straightening, Arabella looked around the room at the large pile of clothes. "Apparently," she said seriously.

Sirius grinned and picked up a few more items, tossing them onto the bed. "How in the name of Merlin do you have so many clothes?"

"I have no idea. I didn't think Dumbledore had given us this many." She shrugged.

Sirius laughed, but did not reply. Arabella seemed not to notice; she continued to pile clothing onto her bed. "Belle," Sirius began, after what felt like a long, excruciating silence, "I really wanted to apologize officially for the whole problem I caused with you and Brenna. I know you don't think so, but I actually do feel quite badly about the whole thing."

Arabella froze, holding a shirt in each hand. She looked at him, with a damnably unreadable expression etched across her face. It was moments like these that made Sirius wished he was an Occlumens. He really needed to ask Dumbledore for lessons. "I suppose," Arabella said slowly, "that it's all right." She began to speak faster. "I mean, you really shouldn't have been kissing some waitress in a club, but I guess it's only natural for you to ask me to not tell." She paused, still not moving. "So yes, it's all right."

"So…you've forgiven me?" Sirius asked.

"I've accepted your apology." Arabella replied.

Sirius laughed. He bent down and started to pick up clothes again, tossing them onto the bed. Arabella tossed the shirts that she had been clutching into the pile, and turned around to grab more clothes. Sirius could not help himself; he stared at her as he tossed her clothes onto her bed.

When she turned around, Sirius quickly diverted his eyes to the clothes at his feet. A large green t-shirt that had been crumpled underneath the bed caught his eye. He picked it up. "This seems a bit large for you Belle." He stated pointedly, holding it in front of him; it was a better fit for him.

Arabella glanced at him. Upon seeing the t-shirt, she froze again. Her eyes widened and she stared at it for a moment. "I..er… sleep in large t-shirts." She told him lamely.

Suspicious of her hesitation, Sirius cocked an eyebrow at her. He looked at the shirt's tag. "Large shirts with the initials R.A.B. in the collar?" He asked, narrowing his eyes accusingly and positioning the shirt so that she could see that those initials were indeed on the collar of the shirt. Arabella said nothing, staring at the shirt. "Did you sleep with my brother?" His voice was a deadly whisper.

Realizing for the first time that her nails were digging into her palms, Arabella unclenched her fists. "Well, yes." She replied. "After the New Year's party, when I was drunk."

Sirius clenched his jaw. "You don't drink."

"And now you know why."

"Merlin! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't sober enough to think! But if I had been, it would probably have been something along the lines of, 'Well he's not a random guy; at least I've dated him before.'".

Gripping the t-shirt tightly, Sirius stared at her. "Merlin's beard, AJ! It's not that hard to not sleep with someone! You just don't!"

"Oh, like you would know how to avoid sleeping someone! At least I knew who he _was_, which seems a bit more than you're capable of!"

"This isn't about me! This is about you and my little brother, shacking it up!"

Acting on a gut reaction, Arabella picked up the thing nearest to her. Luckily for Sirius, it was a sweater. "It doesn't matter, Black! I can sleep with whomever I goddamned want to!"

"Not when you're DRUNK! THAT'S NOT A DECISION ARABELLA!"

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE! IT DOESN'T BLOODY MATTER!"

"IT MATTERS BECAUSE YOU WERE DRUNK! INHIBITIONS _LOWERED_. THAT'S LETTING SOMEONE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU!"

"YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT PEOPLE TAKING GODDAMNED ADVANTAGE OF ME? THEN LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!" She threw another article of clothing at him. "YOU!"

"WHAT ABOUT ME?"

"YOU SLEPT WITH ME WHEN I WAS DRUNK!" She screamed at him. Caught off guard, Sirius stared at her, still holding his brother's shirt. "IN FIFTH YEAR! WE WERE DRUNK ON HALLOWEEN, AND WE SLEPT TOGETHER! I LOST MY VRIGINITY TO YOU!" The lights in the ceiling lamp exploded; she was losing control of her anger. The room fell into shadow, only lit by the afternoon light coming through the window. Arabella sunk to the floor, crying.

"Belle," Sirius said quietly, his anger overpowered by shock.

Arabella didn't let him finish. "Out!" She ordered, pointing towards the door.

Sirius stayed where he was. "Belle," He began again.

"Get out! _GET_ OUT!" She yelled again. The remaining glass in the socket fell to the ground.

Casting one last glance at Arabella, Sirius left the room.

* * *

Betchya didn't see that comin', eh? Hahaha

**Special Thanks to:**

**Killshea Kavani – **You are pretty freakin' smart. I wanted to type this a long time ago, but it took me forever to type this chapter (because I did it 3 different times). But yes, it is Sirius with Belle, Remus with Brenna, and (obviously) James with Lily. Okay, so don't worry about the fighting in this chapter, because I swear that Arabella and Sirius will get together. Now, about Arabella. Yes, she is Arabella Figg…in a way. I kind of invented her; this Arabella is the daughter of Arabella Figg (the squib) and Mad-Eye Moody (only one Mad-Eye), but AJ doesn't know who her dad is because her mom never told her. Yeah, I have a whole background thing on her…So yeah, I love your review!

**Jamie** – I love your review. I did have so much fun typing that last chapter and I'm really glad you liked it. Yes, Arabella and Sirius will end up together; I think they have chemistry too, even if it does sometimes cause explosions…(nice pun, eh?)

**Mystical Magical Me – **I tried to update soon. I really did. But, I wrote like three different versions of this chapter, so it took a while. I'm glad you could review again, and I hope that you like this chapter. Thanks for the review.


	15. Better Left Forgotten

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 15 – Better Left Forgotten~

"_If you are ever in doubt as to whether to kiss a pretty girl, always give her the benefit of the doubt." ~Thomas Carlyle_

"Well, the Fat Lady's in a mood." James informed his friends between mouthfuls of bangers and mash. "I was coming back from Suzy Chang's this morning, and the moment she spotted me she started jabbering uncontrollably; it was half an hour before I could get a word in edgewise and say the password."

"Oh really?" Remus replied mildly, turning a page in _The Daily Prophet_. "What about this time? The relative merits of Monet compared to Van Gough?"

James and Sirius laughed appreciatively, mostly because those names brought back memories of a very _entertaining_ afternoon the four had spent in a muggle art gallery in London. Peter furrowed his brow. "Aren't those the artists who…" Sirius cuffed him on the shoulder good-humoredly in answer.

"Luckily no," James began again. "Instead, she was complaining to me about the certain late night habits of a girl we all know."

Sirius, who was trying to appear casual while intently scanning the Great Hall, jerked his head back into the conversation. Remus had even looked up from his paper, a quizzical expression on his brow, clearly wondering to whom James (and the Fat Lady) was referring. Sirius had a vague feeling that he already knew.

"Ah man," Peter moaned. "Why do you always get the interesting stuff? As soon as she found out that I _liked_ listening to her gossip, she quit telling me, and now all I get to hear about are the myriad of dangers associated with various funguses."

"Fungi," Remus corrected automatically, still looking at James.

"So, what did she tell you?" Sirius prompted eagerly. None of the other three took particular note of his eagerness, as Sirius was well-known for his loud enthusiasm.

"At precisely 5:45 this morning, a certain Arabella Figg appeared outside the Fat Lady's portrait, asking to be admitted into the common room." He grinned widely and took a sip of pumpkin juice; he'd always relished delivering interesting bits of news, "Actually, she only said 'Arabella Figg' once; the rest of the time she called her something more along the lines of 'chippie', 'tart', 'tramp', and the occasional 'slut' that slipped through the censor." He paused to take another sip of juice, undoubtedly more for dramatic effect than sudden thirst. "Interestingly, the Fat Lady noted that she was still wearing her costume from the night before and that those luscious black locks did not quite manage to conceal a good-sized hickey on her neck."

Sirius took a sip of pumpkin juice, gripping his goblet with rather more force than was typically necessary.

"And then guess who appeared in front of the portrait hole to have a little chat with Miss Figg." James prodded.

"Amos Diggory," Remus replied. Peter nodded in agreement. Their suspicions were not unfounded. Arabella Figg was easily the most beautiful girl in school, and the newly appointed Head Boy (along with the rest of the Hogwarts male population) had certainly noticed. Diggory was very actively pursuing her, an activity that amused the portion of the school not vying for her attention, as Arabella was apparently unaware of her assets and his interest.

"So you would think," James said sagely. His brunch lay completely forgotten on the table in front of him as he continued to tell his tale. "It was Lucius Malfoy."

"What!" Sirius barked, nearly leaping of his chair like a freshly unwrapped chocolate frog.

"My sentiments exactly," James concurred, nodding across the table at his best friend in salute.

"What did he want?" Remus asked suspiciously. His paper, like James's food, lay discarded and forgotten; gossip always held more sway over the imagination than supposedly important reports about the remote.

"What every other strapping young wizard around this institution wants." James said, gesturing broadly around the Great Hall. "The affections of the fine miss Arabella Figg."

"What…" Remus began, but was cut off by a sudden flood of pumpkin juice. He grabbed his paper off the table just in time. Sirius pulled his goblet back upright and quickly vanished the juice.

"_Well_," James continued, ignoring the sudden flood and resultant drought of pumpkin juice completely, "this is where the story gets fuzzy. You see, _Figg_ apparently came from the direction of the seventh floor corridor, the North Tower, that end, and _Malfoy_ came from presumably the owlery, because he had a feather on his robes. The Fat Lady, however, was under the impression that Figg and Malfoy spent the night together and then arranged to come from separate directions so as to appear unplanned in their meeting."

"Seems unlikely," said Remus skeptically.

"Undoubtedly," agreed James cheerfully.

"Just leave it to the Fat Lady to spread faulty gossip." Sirius muttered, sounding less than amused with the portrait's unreliability.

"Why would the Fat Lady presume something like that?" Peter asked, genuinely curious.

"Well," said James, "she's never liked Figg, has she? I don't envy her, having a portrait critical of her."

"She's hopelessly jealous." Remus clarified. "AJ's exceptionally beautiful and the Fat Lady is, well –"

"A fat lady?" Peter suggested.

"Well," said Remus reluctantly, "yes."

"Whether or not Malfoy and Figg planned to meet," James said loudly, focusing the conversation back on his story, "the two did meet in front of the Gryffindor portrait hole this very morning. It was, by all accounts, a very pleasant exchange. At the end, Malfoy did have one request:" James smiled broadly, anticipating the finale, "that Arabella accompany him on the next Hogsmeade weekend."

After a pause during which James seemed content to stay silent and watch the reactions on his friends' faces, Remus cleared his throat, drawing James's focus back to the story and away from the reactions it caused. "And?" he prompted, "What did she say?"

James leaned back on the bench. "Yes."

"She said '_yes_'?" The three asked incredulously.

James nodded solemnly.

"_Nooo_," The three exclaimed in shock.

"My reaction exactly," James concurred.

"But why?" Peter asked, genuinely confused.

Neither James nor Remus nor Sirius could answer that query.

"I've never liked that girl." Sirius growled finally.

"We _know_," said Remus.

"And now she's crossed a line for me too." James said regretfully. "Fraternizing with Slytherins? Gross!" Remus and Peter nodded in agreement.

* * *

Outside the door, Sirius paused, momentarily considering going back into the room to sort this all out. He, however, quickly suppressed this homicidal urge; women, he had discovered, were particularly irrational during emotional duress, and Arabella, specifically, had a very bad temper and a very good uppercut. Besides, he was still dealing with the shock of her utterly arbitrary outburst to an event that was over two years old, an event to which he had no clue how to respond to. Just when he thought he was getting to understand the woman…

As he headed for the staircase, Sirius tried to find the rationale behind Arabella and her sudden eruption of insanity. Angry he had seen her many times, but sobbing as if the world were going to end he had not, and if he were completely honest with himself, it worried him slightly. Had she had this reaction at the time? And more importantly, why was she sobbing hysterically just because she had slept with him? This particular point made hardly any sense to him. It was true that they hated each other, but, Sirius reasoned, he had slept with many girls whom he had mixed feelings about with no emotional trauma, so this could hardly be the problem.

Had it been bad? He paused in the middle of the staircase, in horror at the thought. After a short moment, he shook his head as if to clear it of the thought. It hadn't been. He remembered quite clearly, in fact, that it had been just the opposite and _that_ was certainly nothing to cry over.

No, this situation was way above his ability to handle. Arabella needed a girl. Specifically, Arabella needed Lily because a) Lily was her best friend, b) Lily was the type of girl who would understand the importance of virginity and the loss thereof, and c) Sirius got the vague sense that Lily was the Remus of the group and therefore good at handling these types of emotional issues.

This conclusion presented a problem.

For one, Sirius also got the vague sense that Arabella had never mentioned this whole virginity thing to anyone. If he had paused to consider it, Sirius would have realized what a strange phenomenon that was, as it was his experience that girls liked to share everything. As he had not told anyone about the event either (for reasons equally unknown to him), Sirius didn't dwell upon the matter. The correlation to this secret sex of the past was that, if Lily went to comfort Arabella, she would want to know why her best friend was sobbing, and the whole secret sex of the past thing would evolve into not-so-secret sex drama of the present thing. Among the many issues that would erupt from this scenario, Sirius got a few more vague feelings – that James would bemoan the added drama into his freshly repaired relationship with Lily and that Remus would resent Sirius having slept with the girl that, now that he came to think of it, Remus seemed to be on quite friendly terms with.

Realizing that he was pacing in front of the room where Lily and James sat ensconced with chemistry notes, Sirius quit pacing and instead looked at the pair. James was hardly paying attention to what Lily was demonstrating on the paper, instead gazing longingly at the red hair falling around her shoulders, brushing the table as she wrote. Sirius wanted to laugh at the look on his friend's face, but that emotion was quickly subdued by his newfound burden that, by all means, should not have waited two years to erupt in his face. If he asked Lily to talk to Arabella, then he would cut short the time that his best friend was spending with the girl of his dreams.

Dilemma, dilemma.

Deciding that future guilt was less daunting than present guilt, Sirius stepped into the room. The pair did not immediately notice his presence, as James was very much absorbed in his observations and Lily was working diligently with typical pride in her schoolwork. As he had not yet clearly formed the exact phrasing of Arabella's woes (a phrasing that would undoubtedly leave him blameless), Sirius leaned against the doorjamb and watched them. James was, of course, smitten, but, interestingly, Lily did not seem to nearly mind his presence so much; in fact, the impartial observer could even go so far as to say that she seemed to be enjoying it but, as Sirius was hardly an impartial observer, he said no such thing. Sirius vaguely wondered when Lily's legendary hatred of his best friend (paired with a temper to match even Arabella's) turned into something remotely resembling tolerance, causing him to feel another surge of guilt that he had paid so little attention to the life of his best friend. Some mate he made.

Deciding that there was only so much guilt a man could handle, Sirius cleared his throat loudly. Both Lily and James looked up at him, smiling much more than chemistry homework warranted. At their expectant looks, Sirius felt uncomfortable, as he had not yet shaped his speech. He jammed his fists into his pockets and looked to the side. "So," he began. James's look of mingled disbelief and warning told him that this was a largely unimpressive beginning. He cleared his throat.

"Lily," he began again. She smiled at him. "Arabella," he paused, thinking, "may currently be experiencing some emotional duress."

Concern. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Sirius decided there had never been a more appropriate occasion to lie. "She just seems…upset."

Disbelief. "She was fine not two hours ago. What could have happened?" Finally, suspicion. She narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you do?"

Having been in trouble for a good portion of his life, Sirius had perfected the necessary skills of looking innocent and lying easily. He raised his hands, palms facing Lily. "Oh no, not me. You know how it is – I can make her so pissed off, she's liable to throttle me. But this – this is different. She seems…upset," he finished lamely.

Back to concern. "James," Lily turned her almond-shaped eyes irresistibly on him, "I'm so sorry, I've got to go check on her. You wouldn't mind if we studied again some other time?"

James smiled charmingly (he's always had the most charming of the Marauder smiles, which was saying a good deal). "Not in the least."

Lily paused to smile gratefully at him, and then bounded out of the room. James waited till he heard her footsteps reach the top of the stairs before he turned on Sirius, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. "What the hell was that? '_AJ's upset_.' What rubbish! I know you hate her, but you're supposed to be my wingman! You couldn't have at least _tried _to comfort her? What do you even care she's upset!"

"It's not supposed to be like this," said Sirius morosely.

James quite agreed, until he realized that Sirius did not appear to be referencing his speech. His scowl faded into the look that can only be described as what-the-hell-is-he-talking-about, and James managed to overcome his anger and disappointment enough to ask, "Pardon?"

"It's not supposed to be like this." Sirius repeated.

"Er…" James began articulately, "what are you going on about then?"

"I feel terrible, which is odd enough in and of itself. But then there's the _situation_. Because I'm not supposed to feel bad, surely. I mean, I didn't know. And suppose I found out – I couldn't have done anything to fix it. What's done is done, isn't it? Unless of course I knew before it happened and stopped it then. But how could I have known? It's not as if I knew anything about the situation. Believe me, it wasn't my prerogative, and how could I say 'no'. Furthermore, you'd have to be absolutely raving mad to refuse. And I'm _not_ insane."

James felt inclined to disagree with that statement, but thought better of it.

"Besides," Sirius continued, "she initiated the sodding thing. And the copious amount of liquor consumed prior to the event surely didn't help matters. And…and…and well, she shouldn't be so beautiful and then things like this wouldn't happen. And she is beautiful, very much so – everyone thinks so. It takes a lot of willpower to refuse her, and who has willpower when they're drunk? _Exactly_. It's entirely impossible. So really, if you consider the situation, it's her fault. At least more hers than mine.

"And it happened so long ago! If something upsets you, you ought to tell someone. Don't I always tell you? Of course. Why do you think I display such stable emotional growth? You can't simply keep these feelings bottled up for eternity and then punish someone for an event that they've forgotten even took place. Well, not _forgotten_ forgotten. But honestly, punishment for something that someone doesn't even think about is _not_ fair. And, so what if they do think about it? That's legal; you can't prohibit thoughts. So, I remember; I think about it. But I didn't _know_ everything. And if I don't know all the details going into it, then I can't be responsible for the consequences. Yes – no responsibility. I'm sorry she's hurting – _I _certainly didn't _want_ to hurt her. But I didn't know that I could cause her so much pain, you know?"

"No," James managed, his eyes wide behind his glasses; it was taking most of his willpower to stop his jaw from gaping open in confusion. "No. I have _no_ idea what you're talking about."

"But it still hurts." Sirius continued, barely registering James's response. "_Me_. The gut-wrenching, who-the-hell-did-I-piss-off-enough-to-deserve-this, terrible kind of agony. My neck is all tense and painful, my chest is constricted and making it fairly difficult to breathe, and my stomach is icy. Maybe it just sounds uncomfortable, but _trust_ me: it hurts."

James was not going to argue about whether whatever Sirius had been rambling on about was painful or not. Sirius was acting rather uncharacteristically mad, and James was beginning to think that Sirius's brain was deteriorating due to the strain of trying to remember the names of all five girls he was currently dating, or had sustained serious damage due to an unlucky encounter with a hex that made one ramble on about 'events' and 'situations' that made no sense and had no apparent base in reality (though this second idea was tempered somewhat by the lack of available wands, for hexing or otherwise). His initial amusement had faded to befuddlement to outright worry. "Oh," he said, trying to make sense of the _situation_. "Sorry about that then."

This time, Sirius did not notice his reply at all. He had stopped pacing and was now standing, with his arms folded, by the window. What concerned James more than the eruption of word vomit was how motionless and serious his best friend looked; Sirius Black was many things, but solemn he was never. "She should be ashamed at herself for being so gorgeous. I can't resist looking at her, and that makes me remember, which makes it harder for me to forget, and so harder for me to look away. The tart. And you know what I've realized, she actually has a personality as well! And a rather nice one at that – she says all these interesting things when she doesn't know I'm listening. So obviously, I was, at the time, not able to…to, well, not do it. Like any man, her beauty and free liquor had me utterly incapacitated, and therefore incapable of making a decision of any kind."

Sirius threw his hands up in exclamation, making James jump. James hadn't been immediately aware that Sirius had stopped talking, as he was trying to remember any girl they knew that was beautiful enough to addle even the brain of Sirius Black, notorious ladies' man and cool character. Before he got the chance to ask, however, Sirius Black was talking again:

"And yet, despite all my reasons why it should not, this situation is causing me all sorts of pain. Damn it! And it's not the normal kind of hurt either. I can't even describe it, which is rather strange because I'm usually rather articulate. That should put things into perspective for you. Anyways, what right does she have to make me feel all guilty and achy? She's not so innocent. Well, she was _before_…wait – no, that's not the kind of innocence I mean. She came on to _me_. I already said that I couldn't help myself. If I'd known it'd be so wrong, I wouldn't have. I'm such a _tosser_! _But_, she never filled me in on the whole virginity thing! Aaah, this is codswallop!" In frustration, Sirius kicked his foot against the wall. "And now my foot hurts at well. Well, this just compounds the situation nicely. Bloody brilliant." With a final loud and angry sigh, Sirius sank onto the lazy boy chair, holding his head in one hand and his injured foot in the other.

If James had ever felt at a loss of words before, it was nothing compared to this situation. He had not moved from his spot on the floor during Sirius's entire ranting, rambling monologue (the kind Hamlet himself would envy), and continued to sit there, dumfounded, once his friend finally fell silent. Finally, he shook his head, clearing it, and looked at Sirius again – he was still clutching his foot and head. Slowly, he crawled across the floor and propped himself up on the armrest next to Sirius's elbow. "Er…Padfoot? Sirius? Are you all right mate?"

Without looking up, Sirius replied, "I think I've gone mad actually."

James really couldn't argue with that assessment. "Oh." He paused. "What 'virginity thing'?"

Sirius looked at James through his fingers. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Could've fooled me," said James, eliciting a small laugh from Sirius, who made no further comment. Understanding, James continued. "Why don't we start with a broader topic then? Why isn't 'this' what 'it's' supposed to be like?" Only because Sirius was his best friend in the entire world and had for six years put up with emotional Quidditch game that was his love for Lily did James not add "whatever the hell 'it' is".

Sirius removed his hand from his face, with all the misery that that movement can convey. "I never care."

* * *

Arabella awoke. Immediately, she wished she hadn't; her mouth was incredibly dry, her skin felt sorely used, her eyes pounded against their sockets, and her head felt as if it was burning and someone was trying to put out the flame with a mallet. Needless to say, the overload of sensations was making her rather nauseous.

Trying to ease the feeling, she squeezed her eyes shut tight. After what felt like several overly long minutes, the pain and nausea began to subside. Gingerly she opened one eye. Once her eye adjusted to the dark she opened her other eye, confused.

She was not in her room.

This room was much larger than her dormitory, or at least it seemed so because it only contained one bed. The walls were painted a deep dark blue covered in delicate silver petals, intricately woven together. Despite the fuzziness of her thoughts, Arabella was quite certain that these colours did not belong to any certain house and this could only mean that she had no clue where she was. A clock on the wall chimed four o'clock quietly, as if reluctant to awake anyone. Arabella furrowed her brow, trying to remember any reason she had for being in a strange bed so early in the morning. Or at any time of day, for that matter.

She closed her eyes again, hoping that when she opened them she would find herself in her own bed in Gryffindor Tower. Instead, as she closed her eyes, her skin quit crawling and she finally realized that someone's arm was wrapped tightly around her, just under her breasts, holding her much too close. She began to feel nauseous all over again, and this time it had nothing to do with drinking Butterbeer before Firewhiskey.

This could not be good. Though she had consumed much too much contraband liquor to remember anything distinctly, Arabella had the vague impression that Amos Diggory was trying very hard to charm her the previous night. She did not dislike the Head Boy, despite his pushy demeanor, but she by no means wanted anything romantic from him at all. So, with a ball of dread churning in the pit of her stomach, Arabella rolled over slowly, praying to Merlin, God, and anyone else who might be of some help that she had not just lost her virginity to Amos Diggory. She had always seen virginity as a rather important thing, for lack of a better word, and therefore something that should not be lost without considerable reflection, especially not to horn dog Head Boys.

Arabella was, therefore, nearly relieved when the boy's face was hidden by a longish mess of wavy black hair, as Amos wore his blonde hair short. There was however still the problem that she did not know who she had sex with for the very first time. Very carefully, so as not to wake him, Arabella reached behind her back and pried loose his hold on her. His hand slipped down to her waist, making her skin tingle. Raising herself up, Arabella pulled the covers up with her, pointlessly covering her body, as the room was very dark and this boy was still asleep (and had undoubtedly already seen it all in any case). With a moment of hesitation – scared of who she might find – Arabella delicately swept the boy's hair back from his face with her forefinger.

All conscious thought draining out of her, Arabella stared down at the sleeping figure in shock. Sirius Black lay asleep beside her, a content smile resting on his lips.

Once the considerable shock of finding Sirius Black as her bedding partner wore off, the memories from the night before came flooding back to Arabella. She wanted to get as far away as possible from him, to never see his arrogant face again. She flung the covers off and slipped out of bed, no longer caring if she woke him. She hurried across the room to the bathroom, ignoring the cold floor biting her feet, the breathing of the sleeping, the deep swell of shame within her. In the three seconds it took her to reach the bathroom, tears were already streaming down her face. She locked the door and sank to the floor, holding her legs.

It was not supposed to be like this. She was not supposed to be drunk when she had sex for the first time. She was not supposed to hate the boy she slept with. And she was certainly not supposed to have lost it to Sirius Black, notorious flirt and the school's biggest player.

Arabella clutched her legs tightly to her body, trying to stop the shaking, as if hugging her legs would make the whole situation better. But it could not. She felt so wronged, so _violated_. Helpless tears streamed down her face in a forceful torrent, she buried her head between her knees, her muffled sobs wracking her body.

The worst part was, he had not forced her into anything. She remembered the night with unwanted clarity. _She_ had openly flirted with him at the party. _She_ had followed his lead as they bolted from the Astronomy Tower when Filch and McGonagall arrived. And _she_ was certainly the one who had kissed him first. He had managed to reduce her to tears and remain entirely blameless. Typical of the prat.

Wanting to forget, to pretend, Arabella released her legs and clutched her face, letting her black hair fall into her eyes and her tears drip into the strands. She hated him. She _hated_ him more than she ever had before, more than she had even thought possible.

This boiling hatred dried the tears on her face, soothed the dry sobs shaking her body. Her eyes blazed with dangerous intensity, her anger so focused, so complete. Arabella shook her head, knowing that such hot anger was just as useless as her tears. In an attempt to force rationality to overcome emotion, Arabella stood up stiffly, ignoring the pain in her body from her forceful tears, among other things, and, walking to the silver sink, splashed icy water onto her face, waiting a moment before drying it with a hand towel.

Clutching the sink with rather more force than necessary, Arabella looked into the mirror. Her face looked completely normal; the only sign of her recent tears were her still wet lashes. Taking a step back, she examined herself in the mirror. She looked exactly the same as she always had: high cheekbones, long legs, blue eyes. It was remarkable that something so raw, so life changing, so capable of evoking such unrefined emotions could leave no visible sign, could leave her unblemished.

Then, she noticed it. A sizeable purplish bruise on the right side of her neck, partially hidden by her thick rushes of hair. She leaned forward and spotted another, smaller one, marking the skin of her left collar bone. She grimaced as she examined the hickeys, the spots of shame, reminders of her worst mistake.

With a sigh of defeat, she turned and left the bathroom. Sirius still lay on the bed, frowning in his sleep, hand resting where she had slept. Feeling her blocked anger surge forward at the sight of him, Arabella turned away, searching for her clothing or her wand, whichever came first. The trail was embarrassingly easy to follow.

Arabella quickly grabbed her panties from beside the bed, ignoring Sirius's disturbing lack of pants to the best of her abilities, slipping on her underwear. Her bra lay in a crumpled heap against the wall, next to a tight pair of black jeans Sirius had worn to complete his costume as a 'punk rocker', which was apparently some type of muggle musician. Under the arched entrance to the room, she found her white dress, which looked much shorter than she remembered in the grey morning light. Just outside the entrance she found her white heels in a jumbled heap with Sirius's high top sneakers, so obviously carelessly discarded that Arabella felt a resurgence of shame. She hurried down the mirrored hallway to the exit to collect her wings; the charm for the halo had already worn off. The only remaining items she needed were her wand and her silver angel wing necklace that she had bought at a cheap shop in Hogsmeade to go with her costume.

Deciding that the wand was much more important, she walked back down the hallway, searching for it. She reached the white shirt Sirius had worn and kicked it, more out of anger than particular hope that her wand would be underneath, but luck had returned to her that morning; as the picture of 'The Clash' turned over (whoever _they_ were), here wand rolled out from underneath. She bent down and hastily retrieved it.

She held the cool wood in her hands for a moment, considering strutting back into the room and cursing Sirius Black into oblivion, but she stymied the urge; let him face her when he was fully awake and ready to fight back. Instead, she charmed her angel wings down to a more portable, less obvious size, and walked out of the room, shutting the door firmly in her wake.

* * *

Lily charged up the stairs and then paused outside the door, preparing herself for what she might find within. Slowly, she placed her hand on the knob and pushed the door open.

The room was exceedingly dark, only illuminated by the dim afternoon light glistening through the window. Arabella was huddled against the wall sobbing uncontrollably; her uncharacteristically weak position startled Lily considerably, as it hardly compared with Sirius's weak warning, and she rushed forward across the room, wrapping her best friend into a comforting hug. Lily's eyes fell on the shards of glass scattered across the floor, shards that presumably had once formed a working light bulb. It had been years since Arabella had last shattered something by the force of her temper.

"Hush," she said soothingly. "Hush AJ. It's all right." Lily continued to murmur comforting words into her best friend's ear, trying to quiet her sobs and calm her breathing. Though Lily certainly hated to see her best friend so hurting, she was relieved that she was at least letting her emotions show. Though those that only saw her when provoked by Sirius Black certainly wouldn't think so, Arabella was normally a very composed person, the type who rarely revealed her emotions. In Lily's personal opinion, containing her emotions did little good; the only other time Lily had seen Arabella sob so uncontrollably was in the middle of fifth year when she accidentally spilt ink all over a freshly completed essay. "Just let it all out," Lily advised, rubbing Arabella's back soothingly.

Arabella's sobs softened to quiet tears which softened to the occasional sniffle. Slowly she stretched her legs out in front of her, and lowered her head to lie on Lily's lap. Reflexively, Lily began running her fingers through her friends hair, relaxing her scalp. "I see you've broken the light." She murmured, a slight smile on her lips.

Arabella let out a laugh, washing away the last of her tears. "It's been years since I've lost control."

"What on earth upset you so much, AJ? You'd have to be terribly distressed to lose control like that."

The genuine concern in Lily's voice made Arabella feel equally comforted and bothered; the fact that Lily cared so much made it all the more difficult to lie to her. It was this that stopped Arabella from lying completely. She hated to lie to her best friend, but the shame of her past was so overwhelming she could not bear to tell Lily the whole truth. She could only imagine what Lily would think of her when she realized how pathetic she truly was. Arabella sighed.

"I slept with Regulus on New Year's." It was a true example of how well they knew one another that Lily did not react to that statement. She did not gasp, she did not accuse Arabella of keeping it secret, she did not ask why having sex with a former boyfriend could be so upsetting. She just sat there, running her fingers through her friend's hair, waiting for her to continue. "I, uh, _I_ found his shirt today when I was cleaning up this room. He left it."

Though Arabella paused again, Lily kept quiet, an act that Arabella appreciated greatly. Even Erica and Brenna, good friends that they were, would have pestered her with questions. No one knew Arabella as well as Lily, and so no one could comfort her as well. At that moment, Arabella felt she had never cherished Lily's calm and equanimity enough.

"And well, it got me thinking. About boys…and sex. Of course, sex. And to be quite honest, I think I've done a rubbish job with it."

Lily burst out into laughter, and Arabella could not help but grin. Lily's mood was always infectious. "I'm curious AJ, how so?"

"I don't wait long enough before starting a new relationship. I don't wait long enough before having sex in a relationship. And look at the rubbish I've chosen. Lucius Malfoy: gorgeous, but a complete prick. Severus Snape: the boy who called you a 'mud-blood' despite your apparently deep friendship. Sirius Black's little brother! The worst part is, I should have known they were trouble when they were horrible to you. What kind of girl dates boys who ridicule her _best_ friend?"

"Oh Arabella." Lily said sadly, pityingly. "I don't blame you for dating them. They're smart, they're good-looking, and they all truly _liked_ you. When you dated them, they always were civil with me."

Arabella rolled over onto her stomach to look Lily in the eye. "That's the problem! I let their appearance override what I knew of them. I am always so naïve!"

"Rubbish." Lily countered. "You're much too cynical to be naïve." Arabella laughed despite herself. "I don't blame you for who you've dated AJ, and that can hardly be the reason behind your recent tears."

Arabella gave her the patented Figg expression that clearly said she was not going to let it go that easily, but she rolled back onto her back and moved on nonetheless. "It's not only who I date, Lily. I think I've had sex with too many boys."

Lily burst out laughing.

"Lily!" Arabella whined.

"I'm sorry." Lily gasped between laughs. "But that's simply not true. You've had sex with what? A total of five boys? Lucius, Amos, Severus, Regulus, and Kingsley." Lillian ticked her fingers as she counted. "That's hardly a high number."

Arabella had no intention whatsoever of correcting this number. "Oh sure," she grumbled, "the virgin doesn't think my number is too high."

In all her typical composure, Lily merely shrugged. "I'm simply comparing you to Brenna and Erica. Oh Erica!" She laughed quietly and shook her head. "I would say you're doing fine."

Arabella shook her head. "I dunno. I think I lost it too early. I wasn't ready."

Finger-combing Arabella's hair, Lily looked down at her friend. "I'm sorry. You know you can't change the past, what happened, but think of it this way: you've only ever slept with boys that you care for, so that it meant something. You're not like…" Lily paused, clearly looking for the proper comparison "you're not like Sirius Black. You don't just go around absently having meaningless sex with anyone who will have you."

Arabella nodded her head and blinked firmly to prevent the tears. The two sat quietly, taking comfort in each other's presence in the way that only best friends do. Arabella looked up at the white ceiling, wishing her friend knew the whole story, wishing she had come clean about the situation back when it all began. But she was too ashamed of it all: her idiocy, her drinking, her partner, the lot. She truly hoped no one would ever find out.

"Promise me," Arabella began abruptly, "that you'll wait for the right boy."

With a laugh Lily agreed. "Why do you think I've waited so long? If I weren't waiting for the right time…" This time Arabella joined in the laughter. "Come on" Lily said, motioning for her to stand up. "Why don't you get some sleep? To roughly ad lib Hemingway, your life tends to remain intact when asleep."

Arabella slipped into her bed without protest, not bothering to remove the large pile of clothing covering it. She smiled at Lily and mumbled in reply, "I never have any idea who these muggles you reference are, but they seem to have a rather firm grasp on the secrets of life."

Lily smiled. "I think life tends towards a few basic themes no matter who you are."

Arabella laughed. "God, you've always been so clever about everything. I've always wondered why you're so much wiser than any of the rest of us."

Lily laughed as well. "You give me much too much credit. But I appreciate it all the same."

"Thanks for making me feel better, as usual."

"That's what best friends are for." Lily bent down and kissed her best friend's forehead. "Sleep well; I'll talk to you later."

"Bye." Arabella mumbled sleepily, eyes already drooping. It never ceased to amaze Lily the toll emotional strain took on people. She smiled down at her friend and then, sidestepping the glass, left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

* * *

The night was going considerably well. The Prewitts had smuggled all the proper contraband items through the secret passage behind the one-eyed witch the Marauders had informed them of, and Cole Jordan was, as usual, doing an exceptional job of DJing. Gideon and Fabian had already disappeared from their extravaganza with a set of very pretty girls in their year, leaving the Marauders as the de facto hosts of the event. As the twins had informed the four earlier, they were graduating this year and the time was nigh that their fledging young protégés learn to take control of Hogwarts social life; "The festivities at Hogwarts as you know them," Fabian had said seriously, "are in your hands." So far, the four were immensely pleased with the party, as it had already lasted thirteen minutes longer than any previous Halloween party without being broken up by an enraged McGonagall and a huffing Filch.

Sirius, using restocking the beverage table as an opportunity to observe their party, couldn't be more pleased. Remus had clearly overcome his nearly crippling fear of getting suspended for providing alcohol on school grounds and seemed to be enjoying the party in a corner with Serena Patil, a pretty sixth year Ravenclaw. It never ceased to amaze Sirius how Ravenclaws would flock to Remus, clearly drawn in by his deceptive appearance as shy bookworm. James, having been rebuffed several times by Lily, the poor sod, was allowing himself to be comforted by Regina Vane, and Wormtail was giggling in a corner with a cute, round Hufflepuff.

Laughing at the antics of his friends, Sirius bent beneath the table to retrieve a couple bottles of MelodyRum (named for its gentle humming) and QuickTequila (which screeched louder every second someone waited to take a shot). Straightening up, Sirius was surprised to find Arabella Figg standing across from him; she looked equally surprised to see him suddenly appear from behind the table.

Now, when Sirius said he hated her, he meant it very much; he found her exceedingly pretentious (always discussing her marks with Lily), conceited (looking down her nose at the boys every time they received a detention), and utterly incapable of taking a joke (it was only a water balloon, or at least it was the first time). Sirius Black, however, was not blind, and he could not help but notice that she looked exceptionally pretty dressed, in what his mind would later categorize as ironically, once it sobered up, as an angel.

"Hi," he said, grinning.

"Hi," she said, smiling back. Her teeth were very straight and very white and very perfect. She blinked and looked down, almost shyly. "It's a really great party you lot have planned."

Sirius was genuinely pleased at the compliment, as he had always rather enjoyed being a host when given the opportunity; he felt that since he always had so much fun, he was perfectly suited to be the facilitator of fun for other people. "Thank you," he said, smiling broadly. It was amazing how a compliment, even one from a sworn enemy, could boost one's mood incredibly.

"It's a shame that once you four take over I shan't be allowed back." Arabella replied with a smile, turning her head over her lovely, sculpted shoulder to look around at the party. Though Arabella was indeed noted for her bluntness, Sirius suspected this particular moment of candor flowed more out of alcohol than her nature; if one listened closely, Sirius supposed that one might say that her words were beginning to slur slightly.

"I am mortified you feel that way," Sirius said dramatically, pouring a shot of Firewhiskey apiece, "I would never ban a fellow Gryffindor from one of my dignified gatherings." Arabella giggled, not in the least because alcohol and hormones rarely created dignity when mixed. "Look around," Sirius continued, pleased that she was finding him entertaining (it was in a hosts' nature after all), "we've even let a few Slytherins in – at least ones who can pass the rigid good-looks requirement." Indeed, there were a scattering of Slytherins throughout the room, all very good-looking despite the haughty disdain on their faces as they alternated between ridiculing their fellows and flirting with the more morally-ambivalent of the Ravenclaws. "It seems even the spawns of evil cannot resist the temptations of free booze."

Arabella giggled again. "We sincerely thank you for your generosity."

Sirius handed her one of the two shots of liquor. "A toast," he said, raising his glass into the air.

Following his lead, Arabella raised her glass as well. "To hatred."

"To rivalry."

In unison, to two tilted their glasses and drained the bittersweet amber liquid. Arabella let out a small cough and shook her head, her nose wrinkled. She grinned up at Sirius, the look a mixture of bashfulness and good-humor. Sirius felt a heat rise in his cheeks that had little to do with the burning of the whiskey as it slid down his throat. "Again," Sirius said, pouring another two shots of Firewhiskey into the glasses, hastily ducking his head to observe the dispensing of liquor, hoping on all Merlin was worth that she wouldn't notice the flush in his cheeks.

Arabella delicately raised her shot again. "To discord."

Sirius smiled. "To conflict."

Again the pair downed the burning liquid. Arabella managed to stifle her cough but she wrinkled her nose again. "Thank you," she began, smiling (she felt she was smiling rather a lot at this party), "for being such an excellent host."

Sirius bowed his head in mock sincerity. "It comes with the property, I'm afraid."

"And what property is that? Popularity? Charm?"

Trying very hard to discount her words as those of an inebriated individual (Arabella Figg couldn't honestly find him charming, could she?), Sirius shook his head, maintaining his look of sincerity. "Nothing so alarming, I assure you; just my usual decency and good nature."

Arabella laughed appreciatively, eyes glinting happily, and Sirius could not help but chime in. Their unfocused banter was cut short by a commotion at the far end of the room. McGonagall burst in, tartan dressing gown billowing around her, brow contorted in fury. Filch and his infernal cat barged in immediately after, and, from the heavy breathing just outside the corridor, audible even over the beat of Cole Jordan's music, Slughorn couldn't be far behind.

Immediately, the room broke out into pandemonium. One of the requirements for the locale of the Halloween party was that the room have many exits and open up onto countless corridors so that, when it was inevitably broken up, there were numerous routes of escape. As soon as McGonagall entered the room, students began fleeing as if their lives depended on it, and indeed, their social life did.

Reaching across the table, Sirius grabbed Arabella's hand. It was surprisingly soft and cool. "Come with me," he said, pulling her around to his side of the table. Arabella nodded and followed him without protest. Luckily, the tapestry behind the bar concealed a secret staircase that opened up onto the seventh floor. Unluckily, the staircase did not seem to be so secret; they could hear the muffled thumps distinctive to Filch's run pound down the staircase in pursuit. He disliked the Marauders almost as much as he disliked Peeves, and it was well-known that he relished any reason to punish them (fortunately for him, there were many).

"Down here," Sirius whispered forcibly, pulling Arabella down a random corridor on the left and pushing her against the wall next to a conveniently located suit of armor. "Shhh," he breathed, looking over his left shoulder down the corridor.

They were very close. Hardly half an inch separated their torsos, and Arabella could see his chest moving as he breathed. Arabella herself was breathing rather more rapidly than the situation warranted, and she felt like her body was straining against her dress; oddly, it had not seemed quite so tight when she put it on earlier.

Sirius shifted slightly, listening intently. He was close, so close. Arabella closed her eyes, but all it did was make her more aware that his chest was barely an inch away, that one arm was on either side of her, holding her still and out of sight. She opened her eyes again and looked up at him. She had never noticed it before, perhaps because they were usually adorned with a smirk, but Sirius Black did, in truth, have very nice lips. It was odd, really, that she had never before noticed.

As Filch's footsteps pounded by, Sirius waited a moment as if suspecting Filch would turn around, and then relaxed. He turned back to look at Arabella and, realizing that he probably looked like an incredible wanker with his arms pinning her to the wall, he sheepishly dropped them. Arabella was smiling at him, her eyes glittering strangely. Mentally berating himself for looking like such an idiot, Sirius cleared his throat. "Well," he began, "it looks like Filch has g-"

Abruptly, Arabella wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, closing the gap between their bodies. Though quite unexpected, this development was not unpleasant in the least. Sirius pushed up against her, arms rising to hold her against the wall once more. He could feel one of her small hands on his back, the other tangled in his hair at the nape of his neck.

Sirius pulled away, lips already puffy. "Wait," he said, sounding slightly out of breath, "Arabella. Are you cert –?"

Once again, Arabella silenced him with a kiss, leaning into his frame. Taking this as a very clear answer, Sirius wrapped his arms around her figure and led her in a stumbling dance a few meters down the hallway, lips locked together as if their lives depended on it. Reaching behind him, Sirius turned the knob on a door that had not been there only moments before, and the two fell through into a dark hallway, intricately painted with leaves and adorned with mirrors.

Neither, however, spared any time to look at the décor. Sirius pulled the wings off her shoulders and whisked away the halo Lily had conjured and charmed to float above her head. Sirius paused for a moment, and then grinned, sweeping back the hair that had fallen into her face. Arabella laughed and pulled him back into a kiss.

The pair stumbled down the hallway, revolving around one another, locked in a very tight embrace. They kicked off their shoes into a careless pile and their wands clattered to the ground. Arabella lowered her hands to the hem of Sirius's soft cotton shirt and pulled it over his head. She ran his fingers over the muscles in his chest, his stomach, his back, and then forcefully pulled him up against her, ramming her back into the wall behind her. She could feel his muscles tighten as he gripped her.

Sirius clasped his left hand into one of hers and held it firmly against the wall, running his other hand up her silky smooth leg, under the hem of her dress, caressing her butt with his hand. Her hair was spilling wildly down her back, enveloping him in the sweet smell of honeysuckle. He released her hand and toyed with the hem of her dress. Arabella caught his eye and grinned lasciviously. Smile broadening, Sirius pulled her dress up over her head, dropping it onto the floor at their feet in the doorjamb. Then, the two staggered backwards into the room, clutching one another tightly, leaving only a trail of crumpled clothing in their wake.

* * *

[A/N:] I found this quote long after I wrote this chapter, but it so reminded me of Sirius's rant to James I had to post it here:

"Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love." ~ Neil Gaiman


	16. Close Encounters of the Enexpected Kind

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter 16 – Close Encounters of the Unexpected Kind~

"_Of all the worldly passions, __lust__ is the most intense. All other worldly passions seem to follow in its train.__" ~ Buddha_

She was avoiding him. As they never really spent time together, it was a subtle sort of avoidance, but Sirius Black, despite his loud demeanor and general bravado, understood subtlety well enough. Once upon a time, Arabella Figg bristled every time he entered a room, but they had long progressed – which way, who was to say – past the absolute intolerance that marked their formative years at school. Until recently, that is; she was flinching again. When he entered her general proximity, her back stiffened, her shoulders tensed, her lips pursed, and, most telling of all, her eyes remained firmly fixed in whatever direction was opposite of him.

In fact, since the _Virginity Revelation_, as Sirius tactfully dubbed the confusing incident that occurred a fortnight (_only_ a fortnight!) ago, he had had no contact with Arabella Figg. There were no loud arguments, no sarcastic comments, no icy stares, not even a brow halfcocked in utter derision. As the two were more inclined to loud and vicious rows, this very blatant silence entirely upset a seven year dynamic; it was a bit difficult to have a proper row without some sort of dialogue exchange.

None of their fellow Gryffindors seemed to notice that their interactions had been entirely upended. That snowy morning the group was gathered in the kitchen, going through the routine they followed every morning – or, rather, every morning when they woke up on time. James, Remus, and Peter were seated at the island counter with Sirius, listening to James discuss the coming football game that afternoon. Despite the string of detentions that largely kept them from attending practice regularly, both James and Sirius somehow managed to be starting players. Like quidditch at Hogwarts, football was a big event at the West Connaught Preparatory Academy, as their muggle school was impressively – and misleadingly – named, and the whole school was expected to turn out for the event. James was understandably excited with this opportunity to impress Lily with his athletic prowess, and Sirius expressed, though in a rather more half-hearted manner than was customary, his excitement to impress most of the girls at the school (and all of the relevant ones) with one swoop.

On the other side of the island, Erica stood by the sink, wincing as she drank a supposedly "cleansing" drink, recipe courtesy of the muggles, who, after this daft suggestion that _recommended_ imbibing cayenne pepper, Sirius doubted he would ever entirely comprehend. Though the lot admired Erica for being the only one to stick to her new year's resolution, they also refused to touch the ludicrous concoction. Brenna stood by Erica, laughing hysterically at her antics. To their left, Lily and Arabella stood talking and also laughing.

Though in simpler times he would have joined James in discussing football, and their good fortune to be first string, or laughed with Peter at Erica, or even teased Remus for reading the paper, Sirius only listened with half and ear, instead staring intently at Arabella. Sirius knew Arabella could feel his eyes on her by the way she stiffened her posture and tightened her grip on her half-eaten green apple. She tried to remain nonchalant, but Sirius could tell her temper was flaring beneath her composed exterior by the way her gaze remained unnaturally fixed on Lily and her lips pursed as she fought to keep her temper under wraps, creating this adorably sexy dimple beneath her bottom lip. Those soft, full lips –

"Helloooo!" James called, waved his hand in front of Sirius's intent face.

Sirius looked over. "Hmmm?" he asked, his mind reluctant to move away from Arabella's lips, and all the things he never knew they could make him think of, things he never wanted anyone to know he associated with Arabella Figg.

"_Hmmmm_?" James repeated, lost somewhere between annoyance and amusement, unsure which to choose. "Honestly, were you paying attention at _all_? You've been lost in your own little world for two weeks!" He turned to Remus. "He's been lost in his own little world for two weeks."

Remus looked up from the morning paper, playing along. "Padfoot distracted, you say?" Remus dramatically paused for a moment, as if remembering every detail from the last two weeks. "He _has_ been much quieter than usual, but I thought he'd finally realized that not absolutely _every_thing he says is of consequence."

"No, no, no," James countered, "it's distraction." He said it with a certain gravity that suggested an incurably grim diagnosis.

"Oh dear," Remus concurred, brimming with mock concern. "Whatever do you think could have caused such a predicament?"

"You _know_, Moony," Peter interjected, sporting the look of intent seriousness that crossed his face whenever Remus didn't know something, which was, admittedly, not very often. "It's that whole _vir_ –" Peter found the words trapped in his mouth as Sirius clamped his hand across it with the reflexes that made him a superb beater, muffling his friend. Sirius held his hand to Peter's mouth for a moment more, glaring at his imprudence, and then slowly let it drop.

"Honestly, Wormy, have you no discretion?" Sirius asked, sounding much more snappish than the situation seemed to warrant. He felt caught, having been interrupted while imagining such impure deeds with a girl he loathed, though he knew there was no reason to feel this sense of embarrassment and guilt, like a child caught in the wrong; none of his friends were Occlumens, and his thoughts remained safely in his head, away from prying minds. He made a show of glancing around the kitchen, checking to see if Wormtail's comment had drawn the girls' attention. It had not: Brenna continued to tease Erica by the sink, and Arabella was still involved in a conversation with Lily that seemed to necessitate her back be turned to the boys seated at the island. "And I'm not distracted." He said, to James and Remus.

Remus shrugged, and picked up his newspaper again. He was curious, but in his lengthy friendship with the two most stubborn prats in the world, Remus found time offered more clues than prying. James, however, vying for the title of most stubborn, after all, changed course from gentle pressing to serious conversation.

"Seriously mate," James said, looking directly at Sirius, "you _have_ to tell me what's bothering you." He dropped his voice. "Why is this" – he lowered his voice further – "_cherry_ issue so consuming?" He paused. When Sirius remained mute, he continued, "Sirius, if you just tell me, I'm sure we can sort it out."

Sirius shrugged. "It's nothing. It's getting late," he said, without looking at his watch. "We should head to school."

James nodded, dropping the subject for now (though the bitter clench to his jaw suggested the subject was not dropped for long) and followed Sirius into the garage, slinging his book bag over his shoulder with more force than was strictly necessary. Remus folded his paper and with a sigh clapped Peter on the shoulder, leading him after the other two. Remus remained silent on the matter, but he felt that the most evident clue that Sirius was hiding something was his desire to get to school.

* * *

James was worried.

Though Sirius had given up the spontaneous monologueing from two weeks before, he was not entirely restored. He spent an unusual amount of time skulking around the house, frequently lapsing into long silences and staring off, as if lost in thought, uncharacteristic in itself and a better representation of the surly younger Black than the formerly rambunctious Sirius. James tried to broach the subject from a myriad of angles, but nothing, from joking to gravity, could compel Sirius to expand upon this mysteriously upsetting virginity phenomenon.

And now, James was also guilty.

He had spent a fortnight prodding Sirius in every manner he could think of out of genuine concern for Sirius's well being. But that morning things had changed. When James realized that Sirius was once again ignoring their conversation, a common enough occurrence of late, he watched his friend for a moment before addressing him, knowing Sirius was oblivious to this observation. And that was when James realized Sirius hadn't just been staring off into space for two weeks. He'd been staring at _Lily_.

James, having stared at Lily for years, well understood this compulsion. That morning, as she had stood talking to Arabella over breakfast, she looked exceptionally beautiful. Though she had none of Arabella's striking features, she radiated warmth, good humor, and intelligence. Enchanted by her petite good looks, James understood, and did not blame Sirius for staring. Or would not have, under usual circumstances.

But the last two weeks had been anything but usual.

Sirius, after rambling about some girl's virginity – some girl _losing_ her virginity – had gone conspicuously mute and uncharacteristically pensive. And he kept staring at _Lily_. _James's _Lily. This revelation overrode James's concern for his friend and replaced it with an overwhelming concern for Lily. Could Lily be the girl Sirius was talking about? _Lily_.

It seemed impossible and yet…James was beginning to doubt everything. Not even a month ago Lily had confirmed that her virginity was intact. Well, actually, it was _Arabella_ that had announced it. All Lily had done was smile in muted affirmation. Was it possible that…had they lied? James wanted to deny the possibility, but it nagged at him. Maybe Lily was ashamed that she had lost her virginity, so her friends agreed to help her hide it. Or perhaps Lily was just ashamed of who she lost her virginity to, and wanted to keep it under wraps. If she had slept with someone notorious for sleeping around and playing women – someone like Sirius, for example – she might feel so ashamed she would deny it. Or what if she hadn't been lying then, but had lost her virginity in the mean time? She and Sirius, James realized with an increasingly heavy ball of dread churning in his stomach, had been more civil, even, one could reasonably suggest, grown to be friendly, over the course of this year. James had thought that Sirius was making an effort to be nicer to Lily at James's request, because he was James's friend and wanted James to get the girl. But what if that wasn't so. Suppose Sirius had acted out of selfish reasons, entirely unrelated to James's seven-year quest?

James felt guilty, truly terrible, for believing his friend, his _best _friend, would do something so atrociously horrible and in such violation of the Code. But he couldn't overcome this nagging feeling that his suspicion was not entirely misplaced. Women loved Sirius, and Sirius had a true talent for – James grimaced – seduction. James began to wonder if Sirius could stoop to such a below the belt betrayal.

As James contemplated the possibility of Sirius's betrayal, he grew increasingly taciturn until he mirrored Sirius, each silently engrossed with their private concerns. Throughout first period James watched Sirius, ignoring Arabella completely though she was sitting on his left, hunting for some clue as to what Sirius and Lily had done. Sirius seemed to be paying no more attention to Mr. Gellar's lecture, his eyes continually drifting from the whiteboard. How could he dare to face James after such a betrayal? Was that why he had grown so quiet? Was he afraid he would reveal the secret he shared with Lily?

James was so intently focused on Sirius, searing with such hot rage he wondered how Sirius did not feel it, that he did not even realize the lecture was over until Sirius appeared in front of his desk; Arabella had already fled the class. "Doing all right?" Sirius asked, looking mildly concerned at the look on James's face. Unable to respond with words, James grunted in answer and did his best to hide the anger on his face. His attempt was successful, or Sirius was too preoccupied to notice; in any case, Sirius shrugged and waited for James.

As they walked out of the classroom into the packed hallway, James saw the unmistakable flash of red in the crowd. Lily noticed the pair and waved, smiling brightly. Sirius smiled and nodded in greeting; it was all James could do not to throw a sucker punch at his former best friend right then and there and then pummel him to a bloody pulp in the middle of the hallway for good measure. If Sirius wanted competition, then James was sure as hell going to give him competition. Sirius Black was not the only Marauder that knew how to get a girl, and James had fought too long and hard to win Lily over to relinquish her to such a womanizer and general wanker.

James fury must have again etched itself across his face because Sirius asked him again if he was all right. James nodded. Oh. He was more than all right. And Sirius Black was about to find out what it meant to be on the wrong side of James Potter.

* * *

Remus Lupin was a grounded sort of individual. Whether simply the product of his nature or the repercussions of his affliction, he was calm, steady, and disinclined to the high-octane and often dangerous antics that were the hobbies of his closest friends. So it was with this grounded mindset that Remus surveyed the situation in front of him. Earlier at lunch, it appeared that James, too, had succumbed to the oddness that had so plagued Sirius, leaving Peter and Remus the only fully present members of the group. Remus shook his head, mentally correcting himself – leaving _him_ and him alone as the only present member; Peter's mind was the particularly prone to wandering.

Remus, normally the quiet member of the gang, felt like the loud, thoughtless, and energetic one compared to the two sullen shadows who were formerly real live people that talked and everything. While Sirius just seemed merely deeply pensive and somehow contained, as if he shut off the indefatigable energy he usually emanated, James was positively taciturn, scowling into his lunch tray and glaring at the slightest provocation. As the two were hardly absorbed in conspiratorial whispers, or, indeed, even acknowledging the other's wildly out of character behavior, Remus was confident that Sirius had not confided his secret to James.

What, then, was left to explain the sudden transformation of two loud and incorrigible fellows into rather dull and self-absorbed people? Was there some sort of Muggle depression bug going around the school? Or, perhaps, the pair was suffering the effects of early-onset maturity? Remus shook his head again, ruling out the latter possibility as ludicrous.

Sitting on the cold bleachers, waving to classmates as they filed into the stands around him, Remus felt completely at a loss for explanation. He leaned forward, considering asking Peter his take on the situation, but upon looking at Peter, decided against it. Peter was leaning forward eagerly, looking towards the playing field. He was not, however, observing the competing team passing balls, nor was he, like Remus, observing James and Sirius, who were both stretching in an apathetic sort of way. No, instead Peter was leaning so far forward he was nearly falling off the bench. Remus followed his gaze and was unsurprised to see Erica, Lily, Arabella, and Brenna approaching. Remus fought back a laugh, but couldn't suppress his grin. Leave it to Peter to find a humorous – if unwittingly so – distraction from his troubles. He couldn't blame him – they formed an attractive group, and Peter was not the only one staring. Even James and Sirius looked up from the field.

Spotting Remus and Peter, the girls waved, and weaved their way up through the stands to join them. "Hi Remy!" Arabella and Lily said in unison, taking seats on either side of him. Erica and Brenna clambered on to the row below next to Peter, smiling at the both of them.

"Remus," said Erica, looking down towards the field instead of him, "are you aware that you two are friends with the biggest set of wankers on the planet?"

Remus laughed, but did not disagree. "What have they done now?" Perhaps the girls, too, had noticed that Sirius and James were acting oddly.

"What?" Erica asked. "Oh, nothing. I just thought a general reminder was in order. I'm trying to be helpful, see?"

"She's quite the humanitarian, Erica is," Arabella confirmed, albeit mockingly.

"They're not so bad, really," Lily said slowly. "Once you get used to them, I mean."

They all turned to look at Lily, moving slowly, as if they were trying to comprehend her statement. Though Lily had indeed made a habit of defending the harassed, her good will did not usually extend so far into Marauder territory; indeed, it was usually put to better use _against_ them. Pleased with the implications of this statement (though perhaps unable to contain the resultant jokes), Arabella leaned forward across Remus to better look at her best friend. She smiled victoriously. "Is that right, Lily?" She asked, her grin much too wide for Lily's liking.

Lily narrowed her eyes at her, all well too aware of Arabella's talent for reconstructing meanings – while so unsure of her intent herself, Lily hardly needed Arabella's mocking yet surprisingly insightful interpretations. "Don't misconstrue my meaning, you horrendous trouble maker," she said. Arabella stuck her tongue out at her. "I just mean they're not the world's _biggest_ gits."

"Phew," Erica breathed a sigh of mock relief, "because I was afraid you were going to suggest Potter wasn't a complete tosser. Nay, that you were even to go as far as describe him as tolerable."

"No!" said Arabella, looking far too aghast at the possibility to actually be feeling aghast at the possibility.

"Come now," said Brenna. She had been much more cool headed since the power outage. "I think we all know that Lily is a highly tolerant individual."

Lily nodded her head in dignified agreement, looking somewhat mollified. "I have to be," she agreed, sending exaggerated looks of ire to both Arabella and Erica.

"Ooooh, and we do appreciate it Lily," Arabella cooed, dropping the act and giving Lily a hug, which was readily returned.

"Would you two like me to move?" Remus asked, pointing between the two girls, who were hugging over his lap. "Not that I mind, I just thought I'd offer, considerate bloke that I am."

Lily and Arabella broke apart and looked at him, laughing. "Hey Erica, I think we have another git on our hands." Arabella jabbed her thumb at Remus.

"Now when you say 'hands'," Remus asked with a serious expression, holding his palms out in front of him for emphasis, "how literally do you mean that?"

The girls roared with laughter around him. "Prat," said Arabella, slapping him lightly but still laughing. Brenna, looking up at the pair from the row below, felt her laughter fade. For the platonic friendship that Remus claimed for the pair, there did seem to be an excessive amount of unnecessary touching that Brenna found rather irritating, for reasons unknown to her.

Remus looked apologetic. "It's just the baleful influence of the company I keep," he said in a tone utmost seriousness, though with a wry grin on his face. The girls around him erupted into laughter again. James and Sirius had really been the most educational company a bloke could ask for. He would have to thank them for it sometime – after, he qualified, they returned to their normal, rambunctiously flirtatious states of existence that her preferred. Everything was getting too quiet.

Peter, who couldn't care less that Remus was in the middle of being charming, was much more concerned by the pretty girls Remus was entertaining. He, _Peter_, not Remus, had spotted them first. "How come girls hug so much? All these strange displays of outward affection," he paused, and grinned, "well, actually, they're really quite pleasing to the eye."

"Another one!" Erica said, with the air of great discovery. They all laughed again. "We women," Erica continued, dutiful to her new quest of great philanthropic deeds, "are just more comfortable with our sexuality and emotions than you poor boys, and we are not afraid to express this physically. And hugs are warm and comfy," she added, almost succeeding at sounding serious.

The girls nodded in amused agreement and Remus scoffed, but Peter considered Erica with a look of uncharacteristic seriousness on his face – his second for the day. Then, quite suddenly and without the slightest warning, he lunged sideways on the bench and gripped Erica tightly in a hug, eyes closed. Everyone blinked, dumbstruck, and then erupted into hysterical laughter. Erica, barely able to sit up she was laughing so hard, returned Peter's hug.

* * *

There was much too much laughter. That was Sirius's firm opinion. He liked laughter just as much as the next bloke and he agreed that it was one of life's more potent remedies, but there was a limit to how much laughter was socially acceptable – and they were in highly unacceptable territory now. Switching his weight to stretch out his other leg, Sirius continued to stare beadily at the bleachers, hardly aware of his teammates stretching around him.

Arabella, as always, drew his eye. She especially looked gleeful sitting with her friends. And his friends, Sirius thought bitterly, staring at Remus, with whom she, apparently, had no rules about appropriate proximity. He supposed, in a not even remotely bitter way, that if you hadn't taken her virginity, you were perfectly clear of her rather formidable wrath.

Despite the sour overtones of his thoughts, Sirius did not avert his eyes to something with perhaps more cheering qualities. At this distance, Arabella couldn't feel his eyes on her, and, though she had presumably come to watch the match, she was not looking towards the field. It was a rare opportunity, Sirius told himself, to see Arabella in her natural habitat, instead of bristling at his existence. She was laughing, and oh Merlin did she look gorgeous when she was happy. Well, Sirius silently acquiesced, she pretty much looked gorgeous all the time, but happiness suited her too. It wasn't a look Sirius saw on her very often, and less so this year. Was it because their range had been decreased from a rather sizeable castle to a rather sizeable house? Was he really such unpleasant company that her ire increased with every square footage lost? Sirius glumly rearranged himself to stretch out his hamstring. Stupid Arabella with her stupid temper and her stupid virginity – it was all so bloody stupid, but it didn't change the fact that Sirius was a git of epic proportions. Of Snape-like – if less greasy – proportions. Of course, he thought even more morosely as he stretched his other hamstring, Arabella preferred Snape to him. He was at the bottom of the git pile.

Before Sirius's thoughts submerged entirely into a dark pit of despair brimming with self-pity to wallow in, the view of bleachers provided a small bit of respite from the gloomy quality of Sirius's mind. Arabella and Lily reached across Remus (honestly? Did anyone ever realize what a great git Remus Lupin even was? Because he was a total and complete git that made even the prattiest of prats look like decent human beings) and engulfed each other in a friendly hug. A beautiful hug, really. With their wind caressing their hair, they leaned into each other, grinning. Arabella and Lily really were bosom friends. With their heaving bosoms and nice, full lips and many other attractive qualities perhaps not fit for mentioning…

Sirius's mind went someplace far from the realm of misery and contrition in which he was seeking his penance.

Returning to a much less hot and fervent reality, Sirius shook his head, and concentrated very hard on just how icy the wind felt as it stung his face. He had a game to play with simple, straightforward rules and simple, straightforward tactics that he needed to concentrate on for the next couple hours. He needed a break from the much more complex and arbitrary rules on the great game that was his…association…with Arabella. And his mind _really_ wasn't supposed to wander into other Arabella territory because, well, if he were be entirely honest, it was exceedingly difficult to properly hate someone while simultaneously wanting to make her toes curl, among many other inappropriate things.

Sirius shook his head again. Then, with great resolve and rather impressive follow-through, he turned his back from the stands to the field, ready to concentrate on football. So preoccupied was he with all his internal turmoil, Sirius did not even notice that some of his teammates, too, were focused on the unusually attractive group of friends he was trying so desperately to evict from his mind.

* * *

James Potter surveyed the prankster formerly known as his best friend with an almost palpable ire, though his wrath went apparently unnoticed. It was a mark of how perturbed James was with this Lily Fiasco that he so overlooked being ignored, because under normal circumstances he prided himself on being at the center of attention and forefront of the action. But he was much too angry with Sirius about Lily to be angry with Sirius for ignoring him.

Honestly? Did anyone ever realize what an incredible tosser Sirius Black even was? Because he was a total and complete tosser. He wasn't even _trying_ to hide his obsession with Lily. How could anyone be so chockfull of betrayal? Not only did he take the _virginity_ of his best mate's girl, but he neither confessed and begged for forgiveness on bended – no, _broken_, _painfully_ broken and _shattered_ – knees, nor continued to fuck her and try to hide their relationship like any decent deceitful bastard would. What was his _problem_? Was Lily not good enough for him?

Reluctantly, James was forced to admit to himself that it was highly unlikely that Sirius felt above Lily, as he was the one who was practically stalking the poor girl. And she wasn't having any of it. Smart girl, that Lily Evans was. James couldn't help but grin at Lily's good – if only belatedly so – judgment.

His grin was quickly suppressed. Sirius Black was still staring at her; barely stretching at all, he kept his neck craned to the bleachers where Lily sat next to Remus and Arabella. It was amazing she didn't feel violated under such an unwavering and lecherous gaze. Well, James couldn't exactly see Sirius's expression, but he knew him well enough to know that his expression would be lecherous. He was that sort of sleazy bloke. The bloody wanking tosser!

Up in the stands Lily and Arabella moved into a picturesque hug. Though he really would have rather watched the two beauties entwined, James saw Sirius stiffen out of the corner of his eye. He was probably imagining all sorts of disgusting things with the pair – beautiful girls hugging, touching, moving towards one another…James suddenly felt the need to remove "wanking" from his list of insulting terms.

Suddenly Sirius turned away, not even having the decency to acknowledge James's boiling wrath not two feet away. James tried not to focus on Sirius and concentrated on his slow, steady breathing, trying his very best to control his temper – and suppress a pleasing yet unhelpful image still glimmering in his mind. It was not yet the time to murder Sirius Black in an excruciatingly painful and slow manner. James Potter was going to redouble his life-long efforts to win the heart of his fair Lily-flower (state of her flower, irrelevant) and then Sirius Black would be girl-less and friendless before he even knew what had hit his bored and haughty self.

* * *

A loud, sharp whistle cut across the playing field and through James's murderous thoughts. Both teams hurried to their coaches against the wind, gathering up into a huddle. Sirius found himself jammed between that Arabella-centric git Hunter and James, whose face was, as usual before a match, contorted by nerves. "You all right?" he asked good-naturedly. James, never able to articulate well over his nerves, made a deep sort of grunting noise, and the coach began to talk before he could say more. Sirius slapped him on the back in a reassuring manner. The boy had more nerves than were good for him and with Lily watching, the situation could only be tenfold.

"You boys will have to watch for wind factor," the coach said loudly over the said wind to the mass of black and navy around him. "Whoever decided to place the field on the top of this ridge was absolutely daft. Daft. But the idiots we surround ourselves with everyday are not our problem. The wind is our problem. It's going to blow the ball of its course, so your aim won't be as sure as usual. Not. As. Sure. That means none of your selfish showmanship, like say, shooting a goal from centerfield. Understood, Ferguson? Wait until you're sure. Do you hear me? _Sure_. That is our motto for the day."

The team around him nodded enthusiastically. He could feel them getting energized, ready to take down the opposing team. Thank the Good Lord for the pretty ladies filling the bleachers, waiting to be impressed. If testosterone weren't enough to pump up a victory-inducing sort of team spirit, hormones certainly were. He opened his mouth to deliver more words of wisdom to the ready players surrounding him when the referee's whistle blew again. Never mind then. "Positions, players!" he called, slapping those near him on the back as they ran off. More coaching wouldn't have helped anyway – it's not like they listened.

Sirius thumped James on the back again and ran off to his position, left midfield. Despite his deep and unrelenting hatred for Sirius, James couldn't help but feel the excitement of an impending game. Merlin the sporting world was…euphoric. It's where life's battles were played. As he sauntered to center forward, the idiot Hunter on his right and that bloke Erica had momentarily gone with (whose name completely escaped him, assuming he had ever bothered to learn it) on his left, James contemplated the idea of life's battles. He grinned. Now was the chance to impress one Miss Lily Evans and beat Sirius at his own game. He cracked his neck. This was going to be excellent.

The whistle blew again, and, grin still on his face, James tapped the ball over to Hunter. Let the games begin.

* * *

There she was. After refusing to glance in his direction for an exceedingly torturous fortnight, Arabella Figg stood outside the locker room, leaning against the stone building, waiting, blue eyes coolly assessing him as if nothing were the matter. She looked like the Arabella Figg of old: beautiful, icy, unmoved. Her slender figure was wrapped in black from peacoat to boots, cheeks pink from the sting of the cold, her hair fluttering around her face in the breeze, her raven beauty so entrancing that just the sight of her sucked the breath out of his chest faster than the cold and shoved any lingering concerns about James's uncharacteristic aggression during the match out of his mind. Sirius knew she was angry with him, uncomfortable now that he had seen her so vulnerable, but her impassive face gave no sign of any emotion at all, save perhaps for a slight tension in the jaw, the barely noticeable pursing of her lips upon his appearance.

Realizing he was staring, Sirius looked away, running his hand through his hair, still damp from the shower. "Arabella. Hey –" he said.

"Black," Arabella cut him off, taking a step away from the wall. "Peter, Remus, Erica, and Brenna have returned to the house, leaving us to ride back with Lily and James." She said this in a manner that suggested she found this act a crime of high treason, at the very least. "I've come to tell you to loiter up here because those two are getting on quite well at the moment. Finally. Be a good boy and do your very best not to jeopardize it, by, say, coming within a 50 meter radius of it – your mere presence seems enough to bring things crashing down." Barbed messaged delivered, Arabella turned to go.

"Arabella –" Sirius said, his voice low. She paused her retreat, turning to face him. For a moment, just a moment, her icy front melted into a creased brow, mouth parted as if to speak. A third voice interrupted, and the moment was gone, her face once again cold and hard.

"Belle. Hey Belle!"

They both turned to see Hunter Green exit the locker room, friends following behind him, exchanging wary glances as if knowing Hunter's intentions and doubting both their necessity and consequences. They hung back several feet away and diverted their attention, one to the snow-covered ground and the other to the bright grey sky. Hunter crossed the frozen ground in two steps and stood before his former girlfriend, looming. "Belle," he said again.

"Yes?" Arabella replied, arching her brow in the dismissive look so often trained upon Sirius. Though perhaps predisposed to dislike Hunter because he was both a ball hog and an utter and complete wanker, Sirius felt his animosity towards him increase. That dismissive arch of the brow had been perfected as a result of his actions alone, and Sirius doubted that any other man knew Arabella Figg well enough to be capable of provoking the very derision he'd taken years to cultivate.

"Belle," Hunter said one more time. "I wanted to talk to you." He moved forward, forcing Arabella back; one more foot and she'd be trapped between him and the wall. Sirius clenched his jaw as Hunter, with aggression surely suggestive of latent mad-serial-murdering tendencies, invaded his territory.

Sirius could practically hear Arabella's terse reply of "evidently", so bordering on sarcasm. But Hunter continued to speak, preventing her reply. Her brow remained arched, lips pursed. "You see, I've been thinking a lot recently (Sirius doubted it) and I've realized I owe you an apology. A rather huge, monumental apology." Sirius glared as Hunter talked to Arabella. It was entirely unfair that the blonde bastard got to apologize to Arabella first. Did he not _realize_ there was a line of men needing forgiveness for their transgressions? A line that began _behind_ Sirius Black. "I was an utter and complete ass (Sirius considered that a bit of an understatement). I realize now that I was utterly in the wrong. I wanted to let you know that I am truly sorry for what I have done. It was untrustworthy, undignified, and simply shameful (Sirius couldn't agree more)."

Arabella nodded her head slowly. "I appreciate your apology."

Hunter moved even closer to Arabella. Though Arabella said nothing, from his vantage a few feet away Sirius could see her stiffen slightly, a sign evident to any fool that she did not appreciate Hunter's apology quite as much as he believed. Hunter seemed not to notice. "Belle," he said again. Sirius wondered how Arabella could tolerate such mind numbing repetition. Hunter leaned closer, his lips parted, wanting what he couldn't have. Sirius bristled. "Could you please give us another chance? We were great together."

"No." Arabella replied, the absurdity of his suggestion evident in her tone.

"No?" Hunter asked, shocked and annoyed. He gripped Arabella's upper arm, slightly shaking her. "No? I make one little mistake and you can't overlook it? What is wrong with you?"

"I'd hardly call having sex with some other girl a _little_ mistake, Hunter." Arabella retorted, her temper still in check. She glanced down and raised her eyes back up to meet his, a mocking sneer on her face. "Though perhaps _little_ is all that can be said for it."

Hunter did not miss her innuendo. He erupted. "You know what, Belle? You're a frigid bitch and I hope you rot in Hell. Fuck you." He pushed her back in anger. Not expecting this sudden movement, Arabella slipped backwards on the snow and slammed her head against the stone wall of the locker room. In two seconds, Sirius crossed the gap that separated Hunter from him and without preamble lobbed the poncy bastard on the nose. There was an odd squishing crack, and blood spurted from Hunter's face. "I suggest you leave." Sirius growled, the threat of noncompliance lingering unsaid in the air.

As Hunter retreated, clutching his nose, Sirius crouched next to Arabella. She sat on the snow at the base of the wall, looking mildly dazed. "Is she all right?" someone asked from behind. Sirius glanced over his shoulder at Lee Thomas.

"She's fine." Sirius replied gruffly. When Lee made no sign he was leaving, Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You'd better go look after your mate," he advised. "I imagine I broke something." Lee hesitated a moment longer, but understanding he was unwelcome, turned to go. Not bothering to watch his leaving, Sirius pulled Arabella's arm over his shoulder and gripped around her waist, lifting her into standing position.

Upright, Arabella pinched her eyes shut and clutched her hand to her forehead. "_Mmm_, dizzy," she explained. The fact that she did not immediately reprimand him for coming with ten feet of her suggested rather more than dizziness to Sirius's worried mind.

"You're going to be okay. Everything's all right," Sirius murmured, guiding her into the locker room. His words were really more to soothe him than her, as she seemed to not be paying him the slightest attention. The locker room was warm and, compared to the light glinting off the snow outside, dim. Though now empty, it retained the strong, musky odor distinct to the festering gym clothes of a hundred teenage boys. Sirius paused in the entrance hallway, blinking his eyes to adjust to the new lighting and adjusting his hold on Arabella, pulling her closer.

Arabella protested. "Get off me, Black. I'm not a sodding invalid." She pulled her arm back from around his shoulder and stumbled forward, brightly colored stars still flashing across her vision. Sirius was unsure whether to laugh at or scold her for her refusal to accept aid, but concern overrode both reactions and he simply followed her forward, a guiding hand still resting on her waist in case she lost her balance.

Arabella settled on a sink, her head resting against the cool glass of the mirror. She closed her eyes, only to abruptly reopen them as Sirius shook her. "Don't close your eyes." He ordered, worriedly examining her face.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake you _bleeding_ idiot, I'm not concussed! I just slipped in the snow. It's a scratch."

Sirius did not look convinced. "Maybe I had better go get Lily." Lily had all the makings of an adept healer, and, though she lacked a wand, would probably know how to mend cuts the muggle way.

"No!" Arabella protested. "Why are you always such an idiot? The only reason I was up here in the first place was to tell you to leave Lily and James alone. It's amazing you can function, as moronic as you are."

"I suppose it's a good sign that you are as petulant as ever," Sirius murmured, smiling slightly despite himself. Arabella also, despite accusations of petulance, loosened into a smile and let out a soft laugh. Sirius felt more pride than he would care to admit that she had laughed at something he said. Arabella closed her eyes again. Sirius shook her immediately; her eyes snapped open into her signature glare. "If you're concussed, I can't let you fall asleep." Sirius explained.

"I was just closing my eyes." Arabella said slowly, as if explaining something to an idiot.

"Well don't!" Sirius snapped. "Dammit, I wish I had my wand."

"Like I would let you point it at my head anyway."

"I'm just trying to help."

"Did it ever occur to you I don't need it?" Arabella asked waspishly, scooting off the sink and standing to emphasize her point. As soon as she was upright, her knees wobbled and stars flashed before her once more. She raised one hand to her head to shield her eyes from the bright flashes while the other found the sink to steady her. Immediately Sirius appeared by her side, arms guiding her waist back to its seat on the sink.

"My point exactly," Sirius said after helping her up.

Arabella opened one eye, peaking at him from behind her fingers. "Fine," she finally conceded, "we can stay here until I quit seeing stars." Sirius nodded and took off his coat, resting it on the next sink. Arabella followed suit, laying her jacket on top of his and unbuttoning her thick wool sweater, adding it to the pile. Catching this movement out of the corner of his eye, Sirius stopped, dead still. Considering the circumstances, it was probably best to give her some privacy. Once her sweater was resting safely on top of her jacket, he turned towards her, trying to act nonchalant, doing his best to ignore the delicate line of her collar bone beneath the straps of her camisole – a beautiful collar bone hardly was enough to redeem such a long standing enemy. "Why are you looking at me?" Arabella snapped at him.

"Let me see your head," he said in an overly gruff manner to compensate for his momentary lapse in good judgment. Arabella made no reply, which Sirius assumed would have to signify consent considering her general hostility. He stood in front of her, leaning over to examine the back of her skull. "You're bleeding," Sirius pronounced, pulling her hair away from the scrape at the base of her head. He ran his thumb gently over the cut. Arabella made a slight hiss of pain that Sirius noticed more from her breath on his neck than because of the sound. He continued to stare at what, in truth, was barely a scrape, focusing more on the glossy tresses bunched in his hand, the heat of her breath on his neck, the smell of her perfume – a familiar, flowery scent – wafting up to him, masking the smell of the locker room, surrounding him, clouding his thoughts…

Sirius jerked back suddenly, mentally kicking himself. He was trying to atone for past sins, to make right this weird situation with Arabella so they could get back to their continuous fighting. Not, he reprimanded himself, so they could resume the…_actions_ that had caused the present situation in the first place. Sirius took a deep breath. He was fine. It was just that he hadn't seen her for a fortnight, and her sudden presence was going to his head. That was all.

Arabella felt dazed when Sirius backed away, and it had nothing to do with her bleeding scalp. His hands had felt callused and warm against her skin. He was standing so close, his musky cologne surrounded her face, fogging her senses, dragging her back to that night, making her forget the shame of the morning after…Ever since the truth had come out between them, actually _spoken_ for the first time, Arabella couldn't be near him without being bombarded by an overload of sensory imagery she thought she had quashed long ago. When he stepped away, she needed a moment to adjust, to clear her head. She took a deep breath of the musty, stale locker room air, to steady herself. She felt weak and flustered – he was the only one who made her lose control. That _could not_ happen. It was all just memory, she reminded herself, nothing more.

"It stings," Arabella explained belatedly, gesturing to her head.

Sirius nodded. "Oh," he said.

The pair looked in opposite directions, both looking rather sheepish and confused. Arabella was intensely annoyed with herself. What was _wrong_ with her? Not two weeks ago she'd let Sirius Black – _Sirius Black_ – see her cry, actual, full-out, undeniable _sobbing_, and now she was getting all clammy and jittery just because of his _cologne_? And on that note, what sort of bloke wore the same cologne he'd chosen when he was _fifteen_? So _what_ if it was a good choice – you just don't maintain that sort of thing. And now, because of her penchant for self-absorbed _jerks_, she was dizzy, suffering from a massive headache, and consequently trapped with a locker room with the king of all self-absorbed jackasses himself, Sirius Black.

And, as past experience established, spending time around Sirius Black with impaired senses _never_ turned out well.

Try as she might to focus her anger, annoyance, and general inner turmoil towards Sirius Black, Arabella couldn't help but feel most exasperated with herself and her uncharacteristic emotional outbursts. The only emotion she felt comfortable displaying was ire, and that was only acceptable when directed at Sirius Black. It was, in fact, the only acceptable emotion _to_ direct at Sirius Black, and thus explained why her recent branching out had sparked all this inner turmoil, turmoil that could not even be effectively concentrated into anger to funnel at Sirius Black. Arabella had been trying to sort this out for two weeks, and the lingering murky dizziness did nothing to help clarify the matter.

Get. A. _Grip_. Sirius silently battled to find the hatred he had harbored within him for so long. He couldn't wait to clear up this whole virginity debacle and return to his old way of life where he hated Arabella with every fibre of his being and didn't give a damn. Those were the days. Before he could shore up his hatred to defend against the intoxicating smell of honeysuckle and those blue eyes so icy with disdain, Arabella suddenly paled. Sirius rushed forward, rationalizing his concern – if she died before he could make things right, then his life would never return to normal, and he would always be some moping idiot with a minimal attention span.

"Belle? Arabella!" Sirius crouched in front of her, examining her face at eye level. Why was she so pale? Was it blood loss? Why the _fuck_ didn't he know anything medical? Damn Remus for going home. "Are you okay? You don't look okay. How are you? Arabella?" Even to his own ears, Sirius sounded frantic – perhaps a good deal more so than the situation warranted. Had he not been so preoccupied, he would have been thankful no one else could see his desperation.

"I smacked my head on a stone wall, so I'm not exactly top form," Arabella said, the distracted quality of her voice dampening her biting tone, "but I imagine I'll live. Do pretend to be relieved."

Sirius tried to keep his deep sigh of relief from being audible. "Arabella Figg," he tsked, "always so demanding." Sirius suddenly realized he was still crouched before her, their faces only inches apart, his hand still on her knee. He straightened suddenly. "Perhaps we'd better hold something against it." Without waiting for her response, Sirius moved away quickly. He let the water in the next sink over run until it was steaming, and then drenched a stack of paper towels beneath it. "Just let me…" Sirius murmured, scooping her hair away from the cut. "This may sting a little," he warned, pressing the wet compress against her head.

It did, in fact, sting, but not nearly enough to overpower the other senses and block out her awareness of Sirius Black. Sirius stood in front of her, arms draped on either side of her to hold the compress into the wound; with her head tilted forward, Arabella felt sheltered beneath his embrace. Claustrophobic, she mentally corrected, she felt _claustrophobic_. Her vocabulary was clearly slipping; perhaps she _was_ concussed.

Sirius did his very best to concentrate on the wound. A small amount of blood smudged the paper towels. The wound was not really serious enough to warrant a wet compress, and Sirius had not thought out his plan well; preparing the towels had provided an excuse to move away from Arabella, but only momentarily; he was standing as far away as he could while still applying pressure, and it was not nearly far enough. The only way Sirius had ever managed to resist temptation was to remove himself from it entirely, but at the moment he was not remotely removed. He could feel Arabella's breath through his shirt, tickling his skin. He tried not to notice. Arabella Figg was the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, the most beautiful that most men would ever see. But she had always been stunning. This should have no effect on how he feels about her, Sirius thought forcefully, conclusively. Why should her looks suddenly become a factor now?

Arabella looked up, meeting Sirius's eyes. Their faces were very close together. His arms looped around her head. Arabella tried her very best not to notice just what very nicely shaped arms they were. "Thank you," she said quietly. And the next moment, they were kissing. It was impossible to say who kissed whom, it happened so fast. Sirius's arms dropped from her head to her waist, pulling her closer to him. Arabella wrapped her arms around his lower back, pulling him into her, her legs automatically adjusting to squeeze his hips. Balanced on the sink, intertwined, their kisses came hungry and furious.

Arabella leaned back on against the mirror, pulling Sirius even closer, her eyes closed. Their mouths were forcefully locked together, every fibre of their beings concentrating on the sensations. Sirius trailed his left hand from her back to her waist, scrunching the bottom of her black camisole, hand gliding over the smooth skin of her stomach, up under the second layer of fabric, cupping her warm breast; it fit perfectly into his hand, as if they had been made for this. As his thumb traced over her nipple, Arabella inhaled, trying to pull him even closer to her. His hand felt hot against her skin, rough against its smooth surface.

Arabella wrapped her legs fully around Sirius's waist, pulling herself up; Sirius gripped her butt with his right hand, supporting her, their kisses never faltering. Sirius shuffled backwards to the adjacent wall and pushed Arabella against it, leaning into her. She wrapped her fingers in his hair, pulling his head against hers. Sirius moved both of his hands to the bottom of Arabella's shirt, lifting the hem up, pulling the shirt up over her head. Arabella followed suit, yanking Sirius's off. Braced against the wall, legs wrapped around his waist, Arabella Figg snogged Sirius Black, her breasts rubbing against his bare chest.

Slowly, left hand still wrapped in his hair, Arabella moved her right hand down between them, tracing a winding trail down Sirius's chest, coming to rest at the buckle of his jeans. With deliberate slowness, in contrast to the fury of their kisses, Arabella unbuttoned his jeans and slipped her hand inside, gliding it under the waistband of his underwear. Feeling his penis, hard and at full attention, Arabella wrapped her hand around it.

Sirius moaned into their kiss at her touch, pushing her even harder against the wall. He could feel her smile into her kiss at his response, but Sirius could barely concentrate on that, as a deep yet pleasant ache was suddenly his main focus. With excruciating slowness, Arabella began to rub her hand up and down his shaft, twisting into friction. Sirius moaned again, filled with unbearable pleasure. Arabella moved her mouth from his, traced a trail of kisses from his lips to his cheek to his neck, where she began to lick and nibble and suck, occasionally reaching up to gently bite his ear. Her mouth hot and wet against his neck, her hard nipples and full breasts pressing against his chest, her long legs wrapped tightly around his waist, her hand with its teasing grip on his cock – it all felt so incredibly, overwhelmingly good Sirius feared he might be the one to black out. As Arabella worked the kind of magic that Hogwarts never taught, Sirius moaned and sighed and gasped into her silky mane of black hair.

Arabella suddenly released her legs from around him and lowered her feet to the floor. She gave his ear one last nip, and then she began to kiss down his body, giving a particularly tender kiss at the hollow where his neck met his chest as she withdrew her hand from his pants. Arabella's tongue flitted over his body, tracing a teasing trail until she gave him one last kiss right above the waistline of his jeans. Sirius looked down, absorbing the intoxicating sight of Arabella Figg on her knees before him. He wouldn't have thought it possible, but his penis grew even harder at the sight. With a devilish look on her face and what Sirius thought (but didn't dare hope) might even be a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth, Arabella looked up at him for just a moment, and then focused in front of her. She leaned forward, with surprising grace for a girl on her knees, and gripped the zipper of Sirius's jeans with her teeth. As she unzipped his pants with her mouth, Sirius fought to suppress a moan of excitement. Jeans released, Arabella lifted her soft hands to the rim of his boxer briefs and pulled down. Sirius was now exposed to her, and her full lips were inching closer –

There was a noise at the entrance of the locker room. Arabella jumped, and Sirius quickly yanked his jeans up to his waist and buckled them, not a moment too soon. The football coach appeared around the corner. Sirius stood in front of Arabella, trying to block her bare chest from view; Arabella gripped his shoulder, peering apprehensively over it. The coach caught sight of the two of them, and, with a great sigh, turned around so his back was facing them.

"You know, this happens after every game." He sounded not-quite exasperated, but not especially pleased, either. "Every. Single. Game. Is the scent of locker room an aphrodisiac for you kids or something?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Come on lass, you get dressed now. Girls, strictly speaking, aren't allowed in the boys' locker room."

Arabella needed no more pressing. She darted out from around Sirius and ran to the sink, hastily buttoning up her wool sweater.

"I'm not surprised that it's you I found this time. You played well, and you're a good lookin' sort of bloke. I bet you've never had a spot of trouble with the ladies. Nope – Not. A. Spot." The coach continued his meandering thoughts, filling what would be the otherwise awkward silence of the locker room, though still not facing either of them. From the tone of his voice, he was beginning to sound amused; he may have even been grinning.

Sirius looked over at Arabella at this comment; she did not look at him. Ducking her head, Arabella grabbed her coat off the sink and walked out of the locker room. Seeing her leave, the coach turned around and faced Sirius. "It's not that I have any problem with my team doing what kids do, you understand, but you just can't carry on that way on school property. If one of you got caught, I'd be in for all sorts of trouble. Tro-uble. As would you."

Sirius, who happened to agree with the impending trouble part of the speech, nodded morosely. "I understand," he mumbled. Detention was the least of his worries now. Who knew what shape his contentious relationship with Arabella would take after their more-than-just-snogging snog? And why were they even snogging in the first place. Or, Sirius supposed, rather why were they snogging again, after a one-time deal and a two-year hiatus?

The coach smiled at Sirius with deep understanding. "She was quite a beauty, from what I saw." He patted Sirius on the shoulder with his roster. "Sorry about the blue balls, kid."

* * *

Sirius arrived at the car twenty minutes later, looking rather put out. Arabella had joined James and Lily's conversation, and, if their laughter was any indication, had apparently said something funny. Well, bully for her. She did not turn to look at Sirius as he approached; Sirius was not particularly surprised by this, though that did nothing to quell his rising anger. Lily and James however, with much less reason to pretend he didn't exist, turned to greet him. "You played really well today, Sirius," said Lily, smiling brightly. "Congratulations."

Sirius forced away his frustrated preoccupation and smiled at her. "Thanks Lily. Though old Jamsie here had a spectacular performance too, did he not?" He reached around and clapped James on the shoulder, grinning widely. "You were aggressive as hell, old boy."

Lily turned to smile at James. "Quite," she agreed. "I've already told him he played very well a fair few times. The boy _does_ like to hear it." She tilted her head down and looked up at James, her smiled almost shy. A light blush crept across her cheeks, though perhaps just from the sting of the cold; the wind had picked up.

James, however, made no attempt to thank Sirius. In fact, the look on his face could almost be interpreted as a glare. "You all right, mate?" Sirius asked, once again.

James did not reply. Instead he surveyed Sirius's wet hair, eyes narrowed. "What, did you just make it out of the showers?"

Sirius raised his hand to his hair. His grin became harder to maintain. "I just needed a bit of a cool off after playing." At this statement, Arabella made a strangled sort of coughing noise, as though she had tried to suppress it in her throat. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw her tug her peacoat more tightly around her. Sirius was not too concerned about her discomfort; after the emotional whirlwind she put him through, a part of him rather felt she deserved it.

Lily's eyes were wide, but still smiling. "Come Sirius, let's get you home. You'll catch something with your hair damp like that, and we haven't got any pepperup potion to make you right."

"Lovely idea," Sirius agreed. He rather wanted to go plop down on his bed and stew in an angry sort of emotional confusion. He held out his palm to James for the keys and, after checking to make sure the girls were no longer paying attention to him, smiled broadly at James, trying to be happy for him despite his own turmoil. "Did everything go well with Lily?" he mouthed. James's face contorted, he made an odd sort of gurgling noise that Sirius took as the affirmative, and he ground the keys into Sirius's hand with rather more force than was strictly necessary. Sirius supposed he would get more details later, as James never missed an opportunity to give a hex-by-hex account of his time with Lily. Sirius made his way round to the front.

"Would you like the front, Lily?" Arabella asked sweetly. Lily nodded and slid in. Sirius pretended he had not heard, and did not look at Arabella, even pretending not to notice when he accidentally made eye contact with her in the rearview mirror. This was how she wanted it, was it not?

* * *

Walking into a dim and vacant living room, Sirius collapsed on the couch with a frustrated groan. He was in no mood for his cushy lazy boy with its false promise of comfort – as much as he hated to admit it, Sirius was currently experiencing unexpected and unwanted emotions, and they needed to be dealt with. Preferably eradicated. Reaching into the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out a silver necklace, having taken it off earlier to play. He rubbed its pendant with his thumb thoughtfully, reflectively. The silver angel wings glinted in the flickering light of the fire.

When he had picked the necklace and its broken chain off of the bed that morning, nearly two years ago now, he had told himself it was to prevent anyone from discovering the events that had transpired. But that was not true. He knew that room provided what people needed, and it kept its secrets well. Two years later, when it all should have been nothing but a memory, when he should have been chasing pretty girls, enjoying the hunt, he was still chained. These weren't angel wings – these were the wings of an albatross.

Why did he still have it?

Sirius continued to stare down at the pendant. Images began to flash across his mind. Arabella smiling at him across the bar; Arabella screaming at him; Arabella kissing him; Arabella punching him; Arabella pulling him into her; Arabella pushing him away; Arabella straining against her white dress; Arabella letting her black top fall to the floor; Arabella gasping for breath – Arabella, Arabella, Arabella.

With a strangled sort of cry, Sirius leapt to his feet, brimming with frustration. He made the motion of throwing the pendant into the fire, but he kept it clasped in his fist. He felt furious yet blank. _Why_ in the name of Merlin was she always on his mind? It was always Arabella. She was infuriating. She was intoxicating. She was –

"Arabella Figg! Arabella Figg you give that back right now!"

Glad for any excuse to abandon his rather upsetting thoughts, even if that reason were the inescapable Arabella Figg, Sirius rushed into the entrance hall and almost ran into James, who had just run out the kitchen. They skidded to a stop before they hit each other, and looked up the stairs, which Arabella was running down at top speed followed closely by Erica who was shouting at the of her lungs.

"Stop! Give it back! You are in _so_ much trouble!"

Arabella cackled gleefully, waving a small book in the air above her head. At the top of the stairs Lily and Brenna appeared, laughing hysterically. Reaching the bottom, Erica lunged and snatched the book out of Arabella's hand. Arabella, herself barely standing with laughter, seemed not to mind.

"My diary!" Erica fumed, "You _stole_ my diary!"

"You," Arabella managed between laughs, "_mentioned_ me in your diary. You said I could be _irascible_." Instead of being offended, Arabella seemed to think this description was hilarious.

"You read it! How could you _read _it?"

"Oh, hush you. You left it open to the page. _Brenna _is the one who saw it in the first place." Arabella was still laughing.

"Hey!" Brenna objected from the top of the stairway.

"I am so mad at you!" Erica said, though she sounded much less mad than before.

"Don't be so _irascible_," Arabella chastised. "I wouldn't have read any of the interesting _scandals_ hidden in its pages."

Erica blushed. "Well good." She turned to retreat up the stairs to where Lily and Brenna had collapsed on the floor in a heap of laughter. "Intolerable, you lot are." Erica muttered.

Arabella laughed. "I'll grab some snacks, shall I?"

"Grab chocolate please!" Brenna yelled down. "And hurry – we have much gossip to discuss!"

As her friends retreated to their room, Arabella turned towards the kitchen. She caught sight of James and Sirius, who had not moved since they arrived in the hall, but were looking at her as though they would never quite understand women. For a swift moment she caught Sirius's eye – his expression unreadable – but quickly averted her gaze. Without a word to either, she scurried into the kitchen. There was nothing to say.

Though Sirius himself did not move, his eyes followed her until she turned into the next room. James looked from where Lily had disappeared at the top of the stairs to Sirius, whose gaze was fixed on the empty hallway that led to the kitchen. James's mouth fell agape with dawning comprehension. He looked at his best friend, the anger gone from his eyes, replaced by a look of immense surprise. "Arabella?"

* * *

**Special Thanks to:**

**.darling **– You have no idea how immensely surprised I was to find that, in the midst of editing the previous chapters (you think I would know how to spell by now), I had an extra review. Lord knows I had no idea anyone still read this old piece; I've been working on it just for my own pleasure for the past few years. But I must say the surprise was a pleasant one. Thank you so much for reading – and reviewing – my story! Since I was so surprised, I went to your profile to stalk you (you see what facebook has done to us? Haha), and I'm only mentioning this because I ride horses too and it made me very happy that you did. I hope you like this chapter as much as you've liked the rest! And I would, of course, appreciate any feedback. Xoxo, SCC


	17. Wizard Angst

_Muggle Studies_

~Chapter Seventeen – Wizard Angst~

"A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling." - Arthur Brisbane

"Er, yeah, mate, I love you too," Sirius managed to wheeze, thumping James reciprocally on the back. James had, quite suddenly and without due warning, engulfed him in an impromptu and unprompted bear hug, leaving Sirius slightly winded and entirely bemused. James pulled back, grinning in such a madly happy manner as to be mildly disconcerting, and then, apparently unable to contain himself, pulled Sirius into a second bone-crunching hug. "Not that I don't value our profound and enduring friendship –" Sirius managed to gasp, but James interrupted him.

"Oi AJ! Come join in the fun!" he hollered across the entrance hall.

"She is _not_ here! Are you taking the mickey?" Sirius hissed vehemently.

There occurred a minor scuffle as Sirius tried to maneuver into a better vantage point. James, however, remained remarkably immobile, leaving Sirius to pray to Merlin, Santa, and anyone else who might take a mild interest in the matter that James was simply a giant git and having a cruel laugh. There was a time and place for hugs between men, but none of these times and places happened to involve the presence of attractive girls, particularly ones whose default setting was an all too palpable disdain. Though he was loath to admit it, Sirius would have preferred Arabella to emerge from the kitchen to see him doing something much manlier and more aloof than a bro hug. Like smoking perhaps. While wearing a leather jacket. And straddling his motorbike. It wasn't that he cared what Arabella thought or anything so preposterous, but just as a sort of precautional defense type measure against her usually unyielding judgment and long-standing enmity.

"Yes, well as fun as this looks," the unmistakably wry voice of Arabella wafted across the hall like a particularly vindictive…there weren't a lot of vindictive things that chose wafting as their primary form of transport, but if there was such a creature, Arabella's voice would have been comparable to it – sod it all to Hell, she _was_ there – "if the years have taught us one thing it's that we'd all be better off if I kept my distance." With what Sirius was sure was deliberate slowness specifically engineered with the sole intention of torturing him for as long as unobtrusively possible, Arabella finally walked into his range of vision, balancing a bowl of popcorn, some chocolates, and a six-pack of coca-cola. She never ceased to amaze Sirius with her ability to look in his direction and avoid making eye contact entirely. One of her many talents, as it were.

"Ah, you're no fun," James replied, in an alarmingly upbeat voice. Sirius would usually have found this cheer all very mysterious, but was currently much too concerned with his less-than-cool appearance to spare a thought towards James. With great difficulty, he pushed James off of him and straightened his shirt with an unnecessarily forceful tug.

"Hey Belle, uh, do you, er…want help carrying that?" Sirius stammered out with quite extraordinary verbal ineptitude. Brilliant. He ran his hand through his hair. Lovely. His genius plan of giving Arabella a taste of her own hostile and aloof medicine and avoiding her entirely had lasted all of three hours, most of which was mentally quite devoted to her. Fan-fucking-tastic. He raked his fingers through his hair again. Bollocks!

"Oh. Uh," said Arabella. Sirius suspected that this sudden departure from their hostile silences had caught her rather off her guard. "Actually, I think I've got it." She adjusted the sodas as they slipped out of her grasp. "So, well, thanks, I guess." There was a pause, and then she added very quickly "For the offer, I mean."

"Great," said Sirius. _Great_? Well, _that _was a lie. What in the good name of Merlin was _great_? "Okay. See you later, then." Behind him, Sirius could practically feel James shaking with the barely restrained urge to snicker, though he clearly did his utmost to suppress the inclination, and Sirius appreciated the gesture more than he would care to admit. He was well aware that he was the world's biggest idiot, and he really didn't need anyone to remind him, especially not terribly cheerful gits that hugged him in front of females.

Arabella frowned slightly and _nearly_ looked at him. "What? Yeah. Bye." Had Sirius been less confused himself, he might have noticed the confusion in Arabella's voice. As it was, Arabella did not stick around to help Sirius analyze the situation; she retreated up the stairs as quickly as possible and disappeared down the hall.

"Night AJ!" James hollered after her, still sounding madly euphoric.

Laughing as if this were one of his more amusing jokes, James turned back to Sirius, who was still staring at the now empty staircase with a kind of dazed look on his face. James fought the renewed urge to laugh. Sirius blinked and looked at James; though he felt anxious and embarrassed – and was sure he looked it – James was still smiling with such ecstatic enthusiasm as to be mildly disconcerting. As clearly agitated as he was, Sirius couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed that James was displaying such off-putting happiness in his clearly troubled presence.

"Sirius, mate, I can't believe it!" James said before Sirius could ask him what in the name of Merlin had made him so damned happy, "It's so bloody _fantastic_! I mean, I'm a total arse, of course – I can't believe I wasted a fair bit of time being angry at you when I could have ridiculing you for your erstwhile love affairs. I mean, how thick can a bloke get? I can't _believe_ it didn't occur to me. Lily and Arabella – they're always together! It's so simple. But I am, I admit, fairly biased when it comes to matters of the Lily persuasion, so you'll have to forgive me for not realizing." James laughed gleefully. "I should have known better – you were never after Lily."

Sirius blinked. He was so shocked at James's arbitrary pairing of him with Lily that, for a moment, Arabella vanished entirely from his thoughts, though they were no less confused for it. "Lily?" He asked, genuinely bewildered.

"Yes!" James laughed again. "I thought you wanted _Lily_! That's why I was so mad."

"Lily, she's…she's yours mate." Sirius said quietly in a moment of infrequent sincerity. He clasped James on the shoulder; it seemed the thing to do to accentuate these sorts of emotional matters.

For a moment, the exhilarated grin vanished off James's face, and he looked seriously at his best friend. "Thanks, mate."

They stood in silence for a moment, somewhat awkwardly. There was only so much sincerity a teenage boy could handle in any given situation, and this conversation was quickly approaching the maximum limit.

"You were mad at me?" Sirius asked suddenly, interrupting the quiet. He sounded surprised.

James laughed again. "Sirius, mate, you're a tosser. I can't _believe_ you didn't notice. I've been planning your murder for practically the entire day!"

"Why?" Sirius asked, indignant. "What in the name of Merlin did I do to you?"

"I've just told you!" James said, but he was much too happy to sound completely exasperated. "I thought this whole bleeding virginity issue was about Lily. But now I know – it's Arabella."

Sirius's eyes grew very wide, and, for a moment, shock kept him stock-still. Then his eyes darted around the entrance hall, searching for eavesdroppers, and he dragged James forcibly from the foyer to the rarely-used dining room. As a previous event had so pointedly emphasized, rarely-used rooms were much better suited to handling matters best left uninterrupted than were frequently used ones – like say, as a completely arbitrary example no way rooted in past experience, a locker room. "Shhhhh!" Sirius hissed, closing the door behind them. He looked at James, very serious. "I don't know what you're talking about."

James, momentarily taken back by the absurdity of that lie, began to laugh hysterically. He was starting to look alarming euphoric again. "Oh, _really_?" He managed, conveying disbelief remarkably well for someone fighting back mad peals of laughter. "You don't know what I'm talking about?"

"No," said Sirius, not quite looking James in the eye. "No idea. I think maybe you've been so focused on Lily that you've gotten a little –" Sirius made circles in the air with his pointer finger "– touched in the head."

"Touched in the head, am I?"

"The factors do seem to indicate that, yes. You've said it yourself – you spent the day planning my murder, and I would tend to characterize premeditated murder over ludicrous suspicions as a bit off base. Especially murders of _me_ – I _am_ your best mate, in case you've forgotten."

"In case _I've_ forgotten who my best mate is? I believe _I_ am not the one who's been keeping secrets."

"Are you going to repeat everything I say as a question? Because it's making this whole wildly far-fetched conversation thing fairly one-sided."

"Well, I suppose that depends: are you going to keep denying fact as fiction? Because it's making this whole acknowledgment of your secrets thing fairly lacking in appropriate acknowledgement."

"If I went around confiding my secrets to everyone, they'd be a good deal less secretive than one typically likes to keep one's secrets, don't you think?"

"So you're admitting that you do, in fact, have secrets to keep?" James grinned widely, quite pleased with his check-mate. "Why would you have secrets from _me_ no less? I am _your_ best friend, in case you've forgotten."

Sirius scowled. "That's hardly a valid claim to make, Potter. Let's not forget some of the secrets _you_ tried to keep. _I_ hide to find out that you hooked up with Miranda Macmillan from Bertha_ Jorkins_, of all people."

James looked mildly surprised. "Huh. I'd nearly forgotten." He grinned. "Sorry about that one, mate," he conceded with a shrug. "But I think we have to admit that the ramifications of your secret are much more pertinent to our current situation. _Yours_ is back with more vengeance than the Bloody Baron, _and_ you didn't even have the decency usually accorded among chums to, say, warn me that the draught was corroding the cauldron, so to speak. I had to use my not unimpressive powers of deduction to realize that you not only _shagged_ Arabella Figg, but that you were the first bloke to so plunder." It was quite fortunate, really, that James was so relieved that Lily was not the girl in question, as he otherwise might have taken far more offense to having not been privy to such a monumental secret. James crossed his arms. "Let's be honest, mate, that's a story any red-blooded bloke would be quite keen to hear."

Sirius groaned and sunk onto the nearest chair, burying his face in his hands. James, who had expected surrender neither so soon nor so completely, was struck momentarily dumb by Sirius's rapid transition from denial to defeat. Perhaps he had been a bit too harsh. He grabbed the chair next to Sirius's and dragged it out to properly face his friend. It was odd seeing Sirius so overwhelmed, as he was usually more inclined to attack problems with perhaps unwise directness.

"Hey Padfoot, mate," James said quietly, "I didn't mean…it can't have been that bad, right? I mean, she can be unnecessarily violent when provoked and she, you know, hates you with a remarkable intensity – that's where the whole violence provocation element comes in, you see – but she's totally smoking, so that's…rather on the plus side."

Remus was really much better at soothing these sorts of emotional tumults.

Sirius lifted his face from his hands and gave James a dry look. "Thanks, mate, for those moving words of comfort and encouragement."

"Perhaps I'd have a bit more sympathy to offer if I knew more of the story than the basic you-shagged-the-finest-girl-in-school outline I'm currently working with." James laughed. Sirius's apparent emotional distress aside, James found great amusement in the situation. Plus, the giddy aftereffects of finding Lily uninvolved in the _Virginity Revelation_ had yet to subside; James was not entirely sure they ever would.

Sirius leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Though James's undue cheerfulness was slightly annoying and, one could suggest without being wildly out of line, mildly disrespectful of what Sirius considered to be his great disquiet, Sirius couldn't quite hold it against him – James had a bit of a weakness when it came to all things Lily. Besides, he was, as was not unusual of late, currently too preoccupied with the mysterious workings of one Arabella Figg to be especially fussed about other matters. "I'm sorry I haven't been exactly forthcoming." He rubbed his temple. "But if I'm going to rehash the dramatic and often brutal workings of Arabella Figg, I'm going to need a drink. Or twelve."

James's eyes lit up. "Don't move. I have just the ticket." He dashed out of the dining room and into the kitchen. Sirius heard clattering as James's rummaged through the cupboards, but before he could even be bothered to peer through the open door to investigate which finely aged liquor could so whet James into a host-esque frenzy, James reappeared. He plunked a pitcher of ice and two tumblers onto the table, and held up for Sirius's observation a handle of Jameson. "Finest Irish whiskey," James said with a grin. "I mean, _muggles_, mate. They're totally daft, but you have to admit they're not without their moments of brilliance."

Despite the internal storm of emotional confusion, Sirius was unable to hold back his grin of approval. He tossed a couple ice cubes in his glass and pushed it towards James, who obligingly measured out the amber liquid. Sirius stared at the glass in his hand, swirling the ice cubes, the picture of brooding melancholy – if the picture of brooding melancholy had a sort of haughty way about it. Though James never said so aloud, he swore on Merlin's grave that all members of the Black clan were genetically predisposed to color every one of their actions with an air of haughtiness, probably just to emphasize that ancient nobility they were convinced they possessed. "It's just," Sirius said in a voice rich with self-pity (and a hint of the haughty), "I dunno, mate. Where do I even begin?"

"Well, if it were up to me," James poured his own glass, "I would suggest you begin with her virginity and the taking thereof, because I am well aware of your prior interactions, as they tended to have a public inclination and a loud overtone that made the gritty details rather hard to miss."

Sirius took a swallow of his whiskey. "Yes, well, thank you for the indispensable advice Prongs."

James held up his glass. "Cheers."

* * *

"Oi, open the door," Arabella hollered, struggling to maintain her grip on the slipping coke cans. She could, in truth, have used a hand carrying the goods up the stairs, but she was not in the habit of accepting favors from a one Sirius Black, and she most certainly wasn't going to start now. She clearly couldn't be trusted around him, although why she couldn't was another issue entirely. What was he playing at, anyway? Offering to help her carry things like some chivalrous man and not the prat she knew him to be? And shouldn't he ignore her? Isn't that how history dictated they behave after getting physical? Which, speaking of, why had they even gone back down that road in the first place? It was a very bad road, full of potholes, and forks, and other metaphorical troubles that weren't all that metaphorical when it came right down to it –

"Er, AJ? The door's open."

Arabella looked up. She'd been so preoccupied with her inner tirade that she hadn't even noticed. "Woops, sorry, Brenna. I was totally zoned." Oblivious to immediate surroundings – the first and telling sign of unfortunate preoccupation. Arabella shook her head, trying to clear her mind from her memories of one Sirius Black.

"No matter."

"Oi, toss me the chocolate!" Erica hollered.

"Ask nicely. Let's don't get all menstrual on me." Arabella replied, though she obligingly threw the chocolate onto Erica's bed.

"Brilliant, love, thanks."

"So what were we talking about?" Arabella collapsed to the floor and sat cross-legged, clutching one of the cokes.

"Boys. I tell you, I don't know what we'll talk about once we're married." Lily said, sounding slightly worried.

"Don't worry about it," Erica said cheerfully. "We'll talk about men. You know, like, Sirius's latest divorce from his fifth wife and who's got erectile dysfunction these days. My bet's that little Amos will be the first to go."

Lily made a face. "Um, _ew._ Remind me to exclude you from any future lunch dates."

"So you don't reckon Sirius will grow out of his…predilection for scandalous affairs?" Arabella asked in a most nonchalant manner. She took another nonchalant sip of her soda and proceeded to nonchalantly choke on it. Lily patted her on the back.

"It hardly seems likely that he'll mature," said Brenna, somewhat stiffly. Arabella was too busy with her internal monologue to notice the momentary awkwardness. She's quite right, she reminded herself. A poisonous toadstool doesn't change its spots, and Sirius Black is as poisonous as they come and stubborn as – whatever a prime example of extreme stubbornness would be. She needn't be held accountable for superb similes when her mind clearly wasn't working properly – just look at the extraordinarily poor life-style decisions she'd made that day. And this from a girl who had a habit of making poor decisions in general, which just goes to show to extreme poorness of the day's decisions.

"Come, I think we should have a little faith." Lily objected. "He's seventeen. All boys are stupid at this age. But he'll be a good man, one day. I think."

"Yeah, when _he's_ the one immobilized by a flacid –"

"Erica!" Lily interrupted. She looked slightly scandalized. Brenna and Erica were reduced to puddles by their somewhat mean laughter at the thought of Sirius's limp future.

Arabella looked to Lily. "Why do you say that, Lils?"

Lily shrugged. "I mean, come on, AJ. I know you hate him, and you've quite a right to, but he's not all shallowness and immaturity. I've talked to him – only a little –"

"You're allowed to talk to him, Lily," Arabella reminded her. Merlin only knew all the things she'd done with him. Hopefully only Merlin knew. She couldn't imagine all the drama that would erupt if anyone found out they had ever been more than enemies. Not that they weren't still enemies, because they were. She did hate him, of course she did. Just because he smelled nice and had a very inviting set of lips did not mean that she did not hate every inch of his ever so attractive – Arabella wrenched her thoughts away from Sirius and back to what Lily was saying…about Sirius. Oh, boy.

"– he's in Gryffindor, so he must be brave. And we all know he's brilliant at school, that's why McGonagall never goes too hard on him, despite his affinity for rule-breaking, and –"

Erica held up her hand. "You're not wrong, Lily. He's a decent human being, to be fair. I'm only teasing about that. But he's never going to be a good husband, and that's for cert."

"He's a bit too busy being a really big rebel." Brenna agreed. "And I would know – I dated him."

Arabella could not suffer through an entire night devoted to Sirius Black. Her thoughts were too muddled as it was, her conscience too guilty.

"Shouldn't you be worried about if James would be good husband material?" Arabella asked slyly. She'd have to apologize to Lily later for using such a low-blow conversational tactic, which was, nonetheless, effective. "Or have we moved onto the best friend?"

Lily tried to look dignified in response, but could not repress a groan, and Brenna and Erica burst into enthusiastic teasing about the love-struck boy. This new thread of conversation left Arabella time to regroup her thoughts and concentrate on her friends. Her friends were what mattered, not some stupid bloke she got a little too friendly with in the locker room. Friends she should be able to tell anything to.

She supposed it was still true that she could tell them anything, Arabella mused, but she had to admit that she had absolutely no desire to reveal her affair with Sirius Black to anyone, and not even her best friends. They would just be hurt, Arabella reasoned, that she hadn't told them immediately. Sirius Black, once again proving more trouble than he was worth. Besides, there was just no _need_ to tell anyone anything about their physical relationship. Because it wasn't going to happen again. It just couldn't. No, the next time she was in close proximity with Sirius Black would be to lob him in the nose for being such an irresistible prat. The git.

Plus, they might be friends, but the incredible classlessness of her antics in the locker room would decidedly not be met with approval. Well, except from Erica. The fact that Erica might find it supremely entertaining was actually much worse than Lily's predicted horror and Brenna's great offense. She looked around her laughing friends, imagining how each would take the news that she had once lost her virginity to and recently _almost_ done a few other things with the man. Erica would probably take it the best, but only because of her love of scandal – a trait she undoubtedly inherited from her mother – and her own history of sexual deviancy – a trait, rumor had it, she also inherited from her mother.

Lily, as the best friend, was the person Arabella ought to tell. Really, she ought to have confided in her from the start, but how in the name of Merlin is one supposed to admit to such a sweet and proper girl that one had once had sex with the boy one hated most. Lily would try to understand, but how could she when Arabella herself didn't understand? The act was incomprehensible itself. What kind of a person had sex with their worst enemy? Masochists and the sexually depraved, that's who. Well, and spies, too, but their deed, at least, served some patriotic purpose. Lucky bastards. Besides, who then, years later, proceeded to do…things in the middle of a locker room with the same boy? Erica, maybe, but that was hardly a standard to live by. No, Lily would never understand, and then every time Arabella looked at her all she would feel is this great sense of shame because Lily would know what a dishonest little trollop she truly was.

Brenna was surely the last person Arabella could tell. Things between them hadn't ever really been the same since Arabella had kept Sirius's bloody secret. Like it was any secret that he had a predilection for cheating, anyway. Their friendship had seemed repaired for a moment, but Brenna was acting hostile again. Maybe she knew? No. There was absolutely no way that she knew. She was probably just sensing the fact that Arabella was a horrible, horrible, utterly depraved, horrible, bad, trampy person. And Arabella was too busy being a horrible and depraved tramp to even try to repair their friendship. Sirius was Brenna's ex-boyfriend! That made him even more off-limits. What a terrible friend she was.

That was the answer: Arabella Figg was a bad person. Well, no more of that. As soon as she graduated, Arabella was joining the strictest nunnery she could find, and getting as far away from Sirius Black as humanly possible. It's not like he would care, one way or another. She was just another girl; he probably wasn't even thinking about her.

"AJ?"

"Hmmm?" said Arabella. Damn it! Was it really so hard to have a conversation with her friends? Only for self-centered little bints like she was.

"Are you all right, AJ?" Lily asked with genuine concern. Bless her. "You haven't seemed well since the game." Lily pressed her hand to Arabella's forehead.

"Maybe you caught something in the cold?" Erica suggested.

Arabella laughed; it sounded rather forced. "No, no, I'm all right, I promise you." Liar. "I just have a bit of a headache." Half true. "But it's getting better so I'll be back to my wildly amusing self in no time." And there's your problem.

"Merlin, I hope so. Have you any idea how dull these two are?" Erica asked.

"Oi!" Brenna objected. She threw a pillow at Erica, who threw it back, starting a minor kerfuffle.

Lily did not join in. She scooted closer to Arabella so that they could talk quietly. "You're lying." From any other person on the entire planet, this statement would have sounded accusatory, but Lily just sounded concerned.

Arabella leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes closed. Now would be the time to confess – but she couldn't. "I saw Hunter today."

"What happened?"

"He told me he wanted to get back together."

"But you don't want to."

"No, I don't, and I told him so. He was…rather upset about it."

Lily wrapped her arm around Arabella's and squeezed her hand. "Did he – he didn't do anything to you. Did he?"

Arabella kept her eyes closed. She could feel tears slipping beneath her lashes, and from the way Lily was stroking her hair, Lily had noticed. Well that was embarrassing. It was a stupid thing to cry over. Nothing had happened, really. And Sirius had been there. He'd punched Hunter in the nose. Was that something enemies did?

"AJ?" Erica had slid next to Arabella opposite of Lily. "Sweetheart, why are you crying?"

"I don't know," said Arabella. That was the truest thing she'd said all evening. She opened her eyes, wiped away the tears, and tried to laugh. "It was nothing."

"What was nothing?" Lily would be a great interrogator. Her ability to sound so soothing made one much more willing to talk than any amount of pain ever would.

"He was – Hunter was just a bit…taken aback, I suppose. No one likes to be rejected. So, he, you know."

"No. Honey, we don't know."

"It's not a big deal. He pushed me; maybe I just slipped. But I hit my head on the wall. Hitting your head against a blunt object is more painful than you would generally expect."

No one laughed. Brenna kneeled in front of Arabella, her hands clasped to her mouth. Erica sat stock still. Lily continued to stroke Arabella's hair, but her eyes looked cold and furious. As Lily generally maintained her sweet disposition, Arabella forgot just how terrifying she could be when enraged.

"Damn," breathed Erica at last. "_Damn_. I assumed he was your typical teenage douche bag. I did so _not_ expect him to have violent tendencies."

"Goodness," said Brenna. "You've really picked some winners, huh AJ?"

"Brenna!" Erica smacked her across the shoulder.

"What? I didn't mean that in a bad way."

Erica rolled her eyes, and turned back to Arabella. "Would you like us to murder him? I think I've watched enough crime shows to do him in without even getting caught."

Arabella really laughed this time. "The offer alone is enough."

"You're certain you're okay?" Asked Lily. From the look on her face, Arabella knew Lily wouldn't believe her when she said fine.

"I'm fine," she assured her anyway.

They didn't understand. Hunter really wasn't her problem; she was much more preoccupied with the infuriatingly confusing boy who chased him off.

* * *

"I just don't understand the woman!" Sirius exclaimed with a sort of hopeless finality.

"Women," James said sagely, "are baffling."

"You think?" Sirius trudged over from the patch of Persian carpet where he had spent the better part of an hour pacing and collapsed on the seat next to James with much less grace than was usual. He slid his arm across the damp table, marked with the droplets from a hundred condensation rings, and pulled the now half-empty bottle of Jameson towards him. Twisting the cap off with enough force that it flew across the room, he poured the amber liquid into his glass, filling it rather higher than custom dictated and decorum allowed.

"Top me off, too. Vamos a beber, mi amigo. C'est le joie de vivre!" James shoved his tumbler in Sirius's face. Sirius clumsily poured out the liquor. They clinked their glasses together. "Cheers mate. Humph, _cheers_." James scoffed. "It's so bloody stupid saying 'cheers'. No mate – _jeers_."

"Jeers!" Sirius agreed, clinking their glasses together again. "She does it on purpose!" Sirius said loudly, jumping up so suddenly that some whiskey sloshed over the rim. "I mean, there we are, hating each other like proper enemies –" Sirius began to pace again "– maintaining the status quo –" James raised his glass in salute " – when, in the midst of a perfectly lovely row, _rrrow_, she decides it would be the appropriate time to bring up our _history _together."

"Who does she think she is?" James agreed. "Professor Binns?"

"Exactly!" More whiskey splattered over the side of his glass. "And then she starts crying –" Sirius began to pace faster "– like it's really so bad to have slept with me –"

"It's a superiority thing mate. She feels _superior_ to you. Superi_or_."

"Superior? Typical. You know what? Arabella Figg can just suck it – _mate_!" Sirius whirled to face James, tripped on one of the rug's many tassels, and fell into the wall. "Mate! I didn't tell you yet!"

"Tell me what? You're supposed to be telling. Tell me now!"

"I am telling you now. That's what I'm doing. _This_ is the telling."

"Tell faster." James struggled to sit up straighter in his seat.

"Two weeks, _two weeks _–" Sirius pushed off the wall so he was standing fully upright "– a _bleeding_ fortnight she ignores me –"

"That's what these girls do. They ignore and ignore and ignore until you do something to catch their attention –"

"like talk to them –"

"prank Snivellus –"

"take their virginity –"

"tease them so they notice you –"

"_exist_ in their company –"

"and then they yell. And they yell and they yell and they yell. But then they finish with the yelling, and they commence – recommence – with the ignoring until you see fit to so distrurb their precious little existences again. Existencii?"

"They _do_ that! And after this horrible, unbearable torture, she just shows up, like she was conjured out of thin air. And she doesn't even have the decency to look vulnerable? Or uncomfortable? Or talkative? Or like she might even think that I'm a mildly decent human being? Nooo. She simply shows up and she tells me that we can't _go_ because you and Lily are _bonding _–"

"Lily and I are _bonding_? AJ thinks we have a bond? She thinks there's a bond between us?" James sat up straighter, looking eager.

"Mate, I love you, but shhhut up." Sirius pointed his finger at James with no small amount of vehemence. "You know you're going to have your Lily one day so that is not the current point, no it is not. The _point_ is Arabella showed up to exchange words with me but not to _talk _–"

"Wait!" James held up his palms to so indicate the desired pause. "What is the difference between exchanging words and talking?"

"Mate," Sirius glowered, "we are not here to talk Semitics –"

"– se_man_tics –"

"Yes, those! We are not here to discuss them, we are here to discuss me –" Sirius jabbed his thumb at his chest "– and Arabella Figg." Sirius took a large gulp of whiskey. "She shows up and pretends that everything is fine and fucking dandy and that we are at the same level of hostility as we always have been but that is not the case!"

"No sir!"

"Because it has been revealed that the first man to sleep with Arabella Figg was me and that I was the first man. And the first is important to girls because girls, even Arabella girls, have all these emotions all the time. So, decent bloke I am, I want to open up talks so we can discuss the issue. I don't want her to hate me for loving."

"She should hate you for all your other qualities!" James agreed.

"Yes!" Sirius began to agree, but then, realizing what was said, frowned instead, "No. Maybe. I don't know. But the point is that she was trying to _bury_ the past, to _deny_ its events, but I know that inside it's wreaking all this havoc and I do not want Arabella Figg to be havoc-wreaked. No my good sir, I do not!" Sirius, the force of his speech overcoming his balance, paused to steady himself against the wall. "So I prepare to apologize for ruining her virginity and to establish a rapport between us, but do I?"

"No?" James ventured.

"No! Because that bleeding sod _Hunter_ prances up, begging for Arabella to bang him –"

"Did he really?" James looked surprised.

"It's the summary; he used more words. Because he's a _git_, a gutless git. But Arabella, smart lass, denies him and he _pushes_ her –"

"What?" James gasped. "He attacked Arabella? We should hit him. How thick can a bloke get anyway? That girl has _mastered_ the art of the muggle dual. Dual? Duel. The art of the muggle _duel_."

"No." Sirius shook his head, but, finding he could not both pace and nod without falling down, focused on his pacing. "She slipped in the snow and hit her head on the wall –" Sirius smacked the back of his hand against the dining room wall for emphasis "– and fell in the snow."

"So," said James, searching for the relevance Arabella's testy relationship on Hunter bore on her testy relationship with Sirius, aside from the general feeling of testiness, "she treats all her ex-lover-types with a hostility typically displayed through acts of aggression?"

"She _doesn't_ treat all her ex-lover-types with aggression! That's the bleeding problem!" Sirius kicked the floor. "Remember the incident that sparked the Virginity Revelation in the first place?"

"Ah, right," said James. "Regulus Black and the shirt he left behind. I'd forgotten. I'd forgotten he'd forgotten. Hehe!"

"How can you forget?" Sirius objected.

"You've been talking for a good while, you're apparently not done with the story, and you keep going off onto these tangential type Arabella notes that divert from the main course of narrative! Of course I'm lost."

"Oh." Sirius glowered; it was a fair point. "Well don't interrupt then!"

"Fine!"

"Okay!"

"So keep going!"

"I _am_. Going, going, go! So, Hunter, that _git_ –"

"Tosser!"

"– pushes her, she slips, I lob the prat in the nose –"

"Did you really?"

"'Course, I did. That's what I'm saying, aren't I? I go to Arabella and I help her into the locker room because she's dizzy and I think she's bleeding –"

"Was she?" James asked with a repulsed look. James, strictly speaking, turned into a quivering first-year at the sight of blood.

"Not so much, really," Sirius conceded. "But I'm really worried, so I – I, well I, wanted to help her so I held some paper towels against it to stem the blood –"

"You said there wasn't blood!" James nearly yelled. He gave a repulsed shiver at the thought.

"There wasn't! Do you think _blood_ is my _bleeding_ point? But I told you, I didn't know what to do! I thought there might be!" Sirius quit pacing and faced James, breathing rather harder than his pacing strictly demanded. "So, there we are –" he shrugged his arms, as if to emphasize the hopelessness of being there "– and we're, well our proximity is much closer than I'm generally used to in terms of Arabella proximities of the nonviolent kind, and she's laughing at something I said and we, you know…"

"Do not," James denied, looking as if he were willing to make the leap without aid.

"What happened to your powers of deduction?"

"I said they were 'not unimpressive' not 'bleeding formidable', mate!"

"We started kissing, okay?" Sirius conceded loudly. "I kissed Arabella Figg! Again."

"And…?" James pried.

"And, well," Sirius nodded his head pointedly, "you know."

"Nope, mate, I need you to be three hundred percent clear on this matter. Like how Lily always scores on her charms tests. Oh, that girl."

"There was kissing, some pretty damned incredible kissing…and then there was the kind of touching that's not, strictly speaking, discussed in polite society –"

"Do I look like polite society to you?"

"Then there was some straddling – on her part, not mine, obviously –"

"I should hope so."

"Shirts were removed –"

"Hmmm," said James. "How's her rack? Is it as good as it looks? I'll bet it's as good as it looks."

"Hey! Show some respect! Git."

"Tosser."

"Prat."

"I've just always wondered, okay?"

"_When_ have you always wondered? Aren't you a little obsessed with oh, what's her name, again? Pretty redhead, about yay high, annoyingly knowledgeable…?"

"Fair enough. Answer the question anyway."

"Phenomenal."

"_Knew_ it."

"_Carrying on_," Sirius took another fortifying sip of Jameson, emptying his glass. "There's a wall and we're kind of against it –" Sirius took a step away from the wall behind him; he needed to maintain his focus "–and Arabella, kind of, well, we're kissing, and she, ah, starts to move her hand in the general direction of, uh, down –"

"Brilliant," James said with a laugh.

"Yeah, it was quite nice actually –" Sirius, lost in a more retrospective moment, grinned too "– so, yeah, _that's_ happening, and then, she kind of, well, you know stands but then she-uh, she transitions into what you might call a, er, _kneeling_ phase."

James opened his mouth but, finding nothing to say, closed it again. He blinked.

"I know where you're coming from," Sirius agreed. "So then, get this mate, she undoes my, ah, the zipper with her bleeding _teeth_!"

"Her teeth?" James sounded surprised. He pursed his lips, mulling over the revelation for a moment. "That's…" he tapped his chin, "really quite impressive actually."

"Indeed."

"So you two…" James pressed.

"No," said Sirius.

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean Coach fucking Reynard walked in on us."

"No – you're lying."

"I am not!"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"_No_."

"_Yeah_."

"Wow. Padfoot, chap, that's…unlucky. Looks like Fortuna does not favor the bold – haha!"

"Do I _look_ like I'm arguing with that sentiment? So that git chases Arabella out of the locker room, gives me a lecture, and apologizes for the blue-balls – _it's not funny_!"

"I," James gasped between peals of hysterical, whiskey-fueled laughter, "beg to disagree."

"You're a git. You're the king of gits. You deserve a sodding git crown to proclaim your extravagant gittiness." Sirius began to pace fervently, "My problem now is that I have no idea what this means. Arabella left, she's ignoring me again, and she hasn't even looked at me – well, until this evening, when she caught us cuddling in the entrance hall, which was bloody brilliant, by the way, thank y –"

"Hey now!" James quit laughing. "AJ is going to have to accept that you and I are brothers of the brotherly kind. Furthermore, we're, manly men that we are, fully comfortable displaying our platonic affection for other blokes, and AJ should really be used to by now our–"

"James, mate, you're _really_ not helping –" Sirius was positively striding across the dining room; James doubted whether the Persian rug was going to survive the night "–don't you get it? Arabella Figg and I have precipitated, no, _participated_ in some…_actions of a friendly nature._ Together. And it has utterly changed the whole dynamic of our long-established animosity and I, for one, am completely at a loss – lost! – for what this means, or –"

"Mate, stop with the pacing!" James ordered. Doubting the efficacy of his words, James held out the bottle of Jameson as further incentive. It worked; Sirius held out his glass to collect more of the blessed liquid. James poured them both an equal – and generous – measure. "Now," said James. It was much easier to think when he didn't have to follow Sirius's rocketing movement, "it seems to me that all you really need to do to rectify this tricky little situation is sit down with old Figgy and have a nice chat."

"Right," Sirius replied, flinging himself down in the chair. "How hard could that be?"

"That's the spirit," James said soothingly. He patted Sirius on the shoulder and settled back in his chair. "I do just have _one_ more little question for you." Sirius turned his head to look at James.  
"You treat all your enemies like this, mate? Because AJ is one thing, but if you have any confessions about Snivellus, you'd better tell me now."

"You're a prat, you know that, right?"

James shrugged. "Cheers."

* * *

There are many jokes about the intensity of English light: the sky is always grey, the people are translucently pale, chuckle, chuckle, laugh, laugh. After drinking half a handle of whiskey in one sitting, however, one cannot help notice how it transforms the pale rays of English sunshine into painfully intense lasers.

Sirius groaned. From where he lay face down on a surprisingly comfortable patch of Turkish rug, a particularly brilliant ray pounded into his eye with the force of a mallet wielded by an especially malevolent giant. He groaned again, and with great difficulty rolled over so that his burning eyes were out of direct sunlight.

In retrospect, that was probably a mistake.

His head began to ache, if possible, worse. It felt like a pair of bludgers high on uppers was loose inside his skull, doing their utmost to cause as much damage as possible. Sirius let out another prolonged groan and clutched his head.

"Sirrrus, stop making so much bleeding noise." James's grumpy and slurred voice came from somewhere to his left.

Sirius thought it was quite rich for James to tell him to hush when he was practically yelling, but he did not voice his complaints; he was much too nauseated to risk opening his mouth. Instead he struggled into a sitting position and clutched his head between his knees, trying very much not to vomit.

"I thought I told you to shut up." James growled again.

Sirius did not lift his head. "I didn't say anything, you hypocrite."

"Then who just said, 'AJ seemed a bit off last night, yeah?' Because it certainly wasn't me." James sounded positively vindictive now.

Sirius lifted his head so fast he was momentarily dizzy from the sudden light, nausea, and motion. When his vision cleared of violently flashing stars, he scrambled across the floor to the door to the kitchen, which was still slightly ajar from when James had retrieved Ireland's baleful poison the night before. Careful to avoid knocking the door open, Sirius peered through the gap. The unmistakable figures of Brenna and Erica stood on the other side of the kitchen, next to the coffee maker. Unaware that they were being spied on, they were not troubling to keep their voices down, and their conversation carried brilliantly clearly across the empty kitchen.

"James," Sirius hissed under his breath, "James, you git, get over here now."

James made a noncommittal noise, which was followed by a loud thunk. Sirius looked over his shoulder. James emerged from underneath the dining room table, massaging the top of his head and looking particularly unhappy. His hair looked more unruly than usual, sticking up in all directions. He crawled miserably over next to Sirius and peered into the kitchen.

Erica shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. She's been really quiet lately. It's a bit disconcerting, really."

"I still can't believe Hunter knocked her into the wall." Brenna tutted.

Erica shrugged again. "She made it sound like an accident. What's weird is that he just walked away after that."

Sirius turned to James, looking terribly annoyed. "She didn't mention me?" he mouthed. James shrugged.

"He always seemed like a bit of a self-centered bloke to me." Sirius had forgotten what a lovely, sensible girl Brenna was.

"I personally think AJ's been a bit off since she found out he cheated. What's weird is that she minds so much."

"Maybe she thought muggles would be different."

"Than the Slytherin scum she's so attracted to? I doubt it. Her daddy ran off, didn't he?"

Sirius and James looked at each other, both looking mildly surprised and perhaps a tinge guilty. The trouble with eavesdropping was that you occasionally heard things that were better left unheard.

"Was he a muggle, then?"

"I just assumed since her mum's a squib. I only ever heard that she never even met the man, and torrid as my mother's gossip is, it's usually shamelessly correct."

"No wonder she's such a slut."

"Brenna!" Erica objected. It was very fortunate that Erica was so loud, because Sirius had made a very hostile noise at Brenna, remarkably like a growl. When James did not make a similar sign of indignation, Sirius glared at him. "It's a fair point," James mouthed.

Sirius glared.

"She_ did _blow you in the middle of the locker room," James clarified.

"Only _almost_," Sirius corrected.

James rolled his eyes. That distinction could hardly be said to make a discernable difference.

"Come on, Erica, I was only kidding." Brenna said quickly.

Erica looked only slightly mollified. "I think it's ridiculous to blame every bit of behavior on a fucked up childhood anyway. I mean, look at me. I've got a lovely home life. What's my excuse?"

"You don't need one," said Brenna. "You can rely on the old man's money."

Erica laughed. "I know it don't matter anyway."

The ding of the coffee maker momentarily interrupted their gossipy and apparently musical conversation – girls were the strangest creatures. Brenna pulled two mugs out of the cupboard, and Erica poured a generous amount of brew into each. The smell of coffee drifted tantalizingly through the kitchen into the dining room. Sirius and James stared at the two girls with increasing envy; a steaming mug of coffee would have been just the ticket. Despite the Arabella-centric conversation, Sirius had not forgotten about his hangover – the pounding in his forehead and the lingering nausea made certain of that.

"What AJ really needs," said Erica, holding her mug to her chest, "is a nice guy to date. I will never understand why she chooses to surround herself with only the biggest prats. She's far more beautiful than we are, you know she could have her pick."

Brenna did not look pleased with this slight to her appearance. "Do you think so?" She sounded uncertain. "She can be so…vitriolic."

"Blokes only ever think with their dicks. I can't see them minding." (Sirius and James wanted to object, but couldn't in good conscience say she was wrong.) "You seem a bit off on AJ this morning, love. You're not still mad about the Sirius thing, are you?"

"No," said Brenna, rather too quickly. "No. I just…wanted to be sure that she was choosing jerks on purpose, not because they were the only ones left. I mean, look at her history. Lucius, Regulus – hey! You don't think she's after men with money, do you? She's certainly pretty enough to succeed in digging for gold."

James had to bodily slam Sirius to the ground to prevent him from bounding into the kitchen and flaying Brenna. Really, James's life was much, much simpler when Sirius and Arabella simply hated one another with a more manageable platonic passion.

Erica, too, looked slightly peeved. The purse to her lips made it clear that she was not especially convinced that Brenna was not still harboring some grudge against Arabella, but she evidently decided not to pursue that topic any further because what she said was, "I don't think that's fair. Snape hardly has any money at all."

"That's true," said Brenna. She did not look particularly relieved to discover that Arabella liked poor men just as well as the rich.

"You know, I've got to work on a group project today at the bookshop on Pine, and there is a _really_ nice boy in my group. Maybe I'll set Arabella up with him."

"That's a brilliant idea, Erica!" Brenna said enthusiastically. She did, indeed, look quite keen on the idea.

"I'm glad to have such enthusiastic support" said Erica with a laugh and a sidelong look at her friend. "I'll just have to make sure she stays away from my other partner, because I have dibs on that bloke if he's the last thing I do."

"Good luck defending your territory against the beauty queen," said Brenna. She managed to keep her bitterness to a minimum this time, but only just.

Erica cast another questioning glance at her friend, but did not address the issue. "I'm serious, it's been a while, and this project is going to get me an O, I swear it."

"An outstanding?" asked Brenna, tongue in cheek.

"Sure, Bren, we'll call it that." Erica said laughingly. She glanced at her watch. "They'd better get back from their run soonish if AJ's going to be dressed to impress by 11."

They couldn't hear Brenna's reply as she and Erica left the kitchen, but the duo waited a good five minutes to be sure the coast was clear before running into the kitchen towards the still piping coffee.

Halfway through his second mug and feeling much more chipper, Sirius turned to James. "Do you reckon we should, er, head down to that shop on Pine? Just to, you know, assess this bloke Erica's going on about?" His voice had a forced casualness about it, and he did not look directly at James.

James pretended not to notice the strained quality of Sirius's nonchalance or to understand the subtext of his desire to appraise a random muggle lad. "I think that'd be a capital way to spend our Saturday," James agreed, keeping his sarcasm to the barest minimum. He deserved an award for the sacrifices he made as a friend.

"Brilliant!" Sirius roared, clearly recovered from his hangover and buoyed by James's support. "We'd better wake up the other two. People'd get suspicious if we showed up to a bookstore without Moony."

That was a fair point, James had to concede.

Sirius bounded up the front staircase, taking three steps at a time. James followed closely behind him, thinking morosely of the coffee he'd left in the kitchen. "Up, up, up!" Sirius hollered as he bounded into the bedroom and onto the attached bathroom.

"Do as the man says!" James said loudly, following Sirius into the bathroom.

The sound of the shower running filled the room, and Sirius reappeared, tossing his shirt to the side. "Why aren't you people awake?" He said loudly. He turned as James stepped back into the bedroom, holding a toothbrush in his mouth. "Why aren't they awake?"

James shrugged. "Maybe they don' know we're gown to stawk a muh-gle today." He suggested over his toothbrush.

"Wake up these hobgoblins, will you? I'm going to shower."

"Sure." James muttered. "Gotta make your-sowlf presentable fer AJ. Oi, Remus, wake up." James shook Remus's foot.

"Whatdya want?" Remus muttered, muffled. He was buried beneath his pillows and looked very reluctant to move.

"We' gown to a book shawp."

Remus sat up. He looked at James, suspicious. "Beg pardon?"

"We've gawt work to do." James clarified.

Remus furrowed his brow, looking more suspicious than ever. "You're waking me up at," he pulled his alarm clock onto his lap "8:47 on a Saturday morning because you and Sirius would like to do your homework at a book shop?"

"Uhuh."

"You want to spend your Saturday at a book shop doing homework?" Remus was quite incredulous now.

"'Course."

"I don't know why I even bother to ask." Remus muttered. He pulled his covers to the side and swung his feet over the side of the bed.

James took his toothbrush out of his mouth. "We can't tell you anything, Moony. Wouldn't want your duties as a prefect to conflict with your loyalties as a friend, would we?" He grinned cheekily.

Remus looked like he was going to respond, but then he wrinkled his nose. "Ergh. Why do you smell like the Hog's Head?" He looked repulsed.

"We were trying to gain a better understanding of the troubles in Ireland." James shoved his toothbrush back into his mouth.

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Once we graduate, I'm getting new friends."

"Aw, now, Moon, don't be such a wet blanket." James grinned. He and Sirius were quite used to this threat, as Remus threatened to fraternize with a more respectable sort at least once a month.

"Moony threatening to leave us again?" Sirius asked, walking back into the room with wet hair and a towel cinched low on his waist. He, like James, held a toothbrush in his mouth and another in his hand.

"'Course," said James.

"I mean it this time," said Remus, but only half-heartedly.

Sirius laughed, and stuck the spare toothbrush into Peter's open mouth. He sat down on the end of the bed, brushing his teeth, and James retreated into the bathroom. They could hear the shower running again.

"May I ask _you_ why we're heading to a book store on a Saturday?" Remus asked, standing up and moving over to his dresser.

Before Sirius could answer, Peter awoke with a start, sputtering around his toothbrush. Sirius laughed, and clapped him on the back, before turning back to Remus. "Studying," he said with a cheeky grin, reminiscent of James's.

"Why is it," Remus asked, pulling on a pair of denims, "that I don't believe you for a second."

"There's your problem, Moony. You don't trust people." He too stood, and scrounged around on the floor near his dresser, looking for a clean pair of underwear. "James and I are turning over a new leaf, we are. You've been a great influence, what with all your innate responsibility and moral superiority."

"Doubtful," Remus said. "Even Dumbledore doesn't believe I can change you two, and he's the greatest – bleargh! I _hate _it when you do that!"

Across the room, Sirius's bare ass glowed remarkably white in the semi-darkness of winter morning. "You are just intimidated by the image of male perfection," Sirius laughed, pulling on a pair of boxer-briefs.

"I don't think your arse is as bloody perfect as you seem to believe, mate." Peter said, pointedly looking in the other direction. "Now get AJ to strip for us again, and that's an ass I'd like to see first thing in the morning."

"Show some respect!" Sirius and Remus objected, turning on Peter at the same time.

"Believe me lads, I was." Peter said with a rather cheeky grin.

"We've got to pretend Arabella's a charming, non-murderous little thing so as to not cause any sort of tension between old Prongs and fair Lily." Sirius clarified hastily. Remus nodded fervently, as if this, too, was the reason for his response.

"Makes sense," Peter said. "I don't like to pick at AJ anyway. She's a terrifying lass."

"Terrifying?" James asked, walking into the room. "We talking about AJ, then?"

"She's not terrifying," Remus objected. "She's just…"

"Forceful," Sirius supplied.

"Right." Remus agreed.

"Unwilling to change her opinions," Sirius added.

"That too." Remus agreed again.

Sirius and Remus shrugged at one another. Sirius shifted uncomfortably, then turned quickly to James. "Ready, mate?"

James finished pulling on his shirt, and nodded. "Moony, we may need you to man the wheel. Ireland's a wicked place."

"As I'm quite certain you didn't actually spend the night in Ireland, I'm going to assume you're criticizing their exports."

"Well, if you're being particular," James conceded.

"The English constitution wasn't built to handle the vices that the Irish thrive on." Peter agreed.

"Maybe it's not our poor English frailty," James proposed, ushering them out of the bedroom. "Maybe they intentionally export only the most potent of whiskies to this fair isle."

"Bombings and whiskey," Sirius mused, pausing on the stairs. "You know, it's not an entirely unoriginal subversion."

"Loses points for effectiveness though," said Peter.

"Or, in place of an Irish conspiracy, perhaps it is possible that the pair of you never quite understood the perils of excess drinking." Remus suggested dryly.

"Ah, Moony, indulgence has never been my thing," objected James.

"Everything in moderation," Sirius agreed. He grinned conspiratorially. "Including moderation."

Remus pulled his book bag over his shoulder and headed towards the garage. "Yes, I forget that you two are most noted for your restraint."

The other three gathered their things off the living room floor and hurried after Remus. "Are you really going to leave us for respectable people?" James asked in a tone of mock distress.

"I can only hope."

"Such lies," said Sirius lazily. "When you get bored with the normals, you'll come running back. I have the utmost confidence in the matter."

"Well, then," said Remus dryly. Sirius laughed.

* * *

"They can't be planning something good." Arabella stood outside the book shop, looking at her and Lily's reflections, murky in the glass.

"You're too suspicious for your own good. I want you to know that." Lily said, fixing her hair.

"Lily Evans, what an accusation to make! My apprehension is in no way, shape, or form the result of undue suspicion; it's perfectly due to my first-hand knowledge of the meddling ways of a one Miss Erica Parker."

"And you would have gotten away free, if it weren't for your meddling friends." Lily looked highly amused. For someone considered so kind in the public conscience, Lily certainly gave very little weight to Arabella's apprehensions. As if sensing Arabella's self-pitying thoughts, Lily rolled her eyes and said, "She means well, and you know it. She does it because she loves you."

"No, it's out of pity. How did I end up being pitied?"

"You were born with exceptionally poor taste in men." Lily patted Arabella's arm. "It's not your fault, and none of us blames you."

"There's some truth to that," said Arabella grudgingly. Lily laughed.

When Lily and Arabella returned from their run that morning – there were few things as soothing as pounding the pavement until you couldn't concentrate on any errant, unwanted thoughts – Erica greeted the pair of them in the entrance hall, smiling much too broadly to not have a meddlesome plan in mind. Despite the transparent motives behind her request, Arabella and Lily acquiesced to meet her at the bookstore after they cleaned up. Despite Lily's flippancy, it was Arabella's firm opinion that Erica was much too pleased by their compliance. Lily needed little convincing to agree to spend her Saturday in a bookshop, but Arabella was more hesitant, certain as she was that Erica's outing had more to do with boys than books. Arabella had experienced more than her fair share of introductions to boys that, despite having numerous desirable qualities, Erica had deemed not good enough to desire herself. After confessing her run in with Hunter last night, Arabella knew it was only a matter of time until she was making painfully dull small-talk with a well-intentioned but somewhat lacking boy, although even she was impressed by the speed with which Erica arranged this impending interaction.

If Arabella was truly honest with herself, which she was rather reluctant to be, she would realize that another boy was the last thing she needed. Arabella Figg needed to sit down and sort out her feelings for a boy she already knew. See, a girl did not want to kiss a boy that she hated. When a girl was drunk or possibly concussed, she could blame doing so with such a boy was the result of the impairment, but that was just a comfortable lie that society let slide as to continue functioning effectively. Arabella was able to admit that she was not concussed or in any way impaired, and that could only mean that her hatred of Sirius was just a claim. Once she put aside the feeling of shame from yesterday's actions – rather from getting caught – Arabella found that there might be something else there. Something a lot less like shame and a lot more like…well, something more.

Arabella Figg, however, was not exactly one for introspection and she refused to recognize any of those things. "Let's get this over with," she grumbled.

Lily opened the door into the shop. "Don't be too cheerful."

"I wouldn't dream of such an affront." Arabella said, fixing a smile on her face as she slid through the door. Her false grin lasted all of a millisecond before her eyes adjusted to the interior lighting. "Unbelievable! What are they doing here?"

"They told us to meet them here?"

"Not them, Lily. Them!" Arabella pointed to the café section where, in a far off corner, slightly hidden behind a support pillar, all four of their favorite housemates sat around a table, littered with textbooks and class notes.

"It…it looks like they're studying?" Lily sounded incredulous.

Lily and Arabella looked at one another, utterly bewildered.

"I sense a conspiracy," Arabella said finally, crossing her arms.

"Maybe they really are here to study," Lily trailed off after Arabella sent her a look of disbelief. "You're right; that's ludicrous. But they do seem to actually be studying?"

"The less they appear to be up to no good means the more we've got to watch our backs."

"Seven years of history do seem to indicate that, yes."

Lily and Arabella stared at the boys suspiciously for a minute longer, arms folded warily. With an exaggerated sigh, Arabella put her hands on her hips and turned to face Lily. "Whatever," she said. "I couldn't care less what they're up too." Blatantly false. "I have Erica's more pressing designs to worry about." Somewhat true.

"_AJ_," said Lily warningly.

"I promise I'll be nice." Arabella sighed. "Where are they?"

They scanned the café, crowded with apparently literate but unemployed consumers or other types with too little to do on a Saturday, including but not limited to those undoubtedly planning some sort of devastating prank, and spotted Erica and Brenna at the other end of the café, sitting at a table with three boys and one very resentful looking girl. Brenna and the girl sat at opposite ends of the table, clutching their lattes and doing their best to look as if they had better places to be. Ignoring her excessively haughty companions, Erica sat in the middle of the table, entertaining the three gentlemen in top form.

Arabella balked. "I forgot my social skills at the house." She turned on the spot, but Lily caught her elbow.

"Come on. You need to interact with normal non-pushy boys. And the sooner you start, the sooner it's all normal again."

As always, Lily had a knack for making anything sound plausible. "Okay," said Arabella. She took a deep breath. "Okay. We can do this. Let's make new friends."

"That's the spirit," said Lily. She, for one, was quite eager to join their friends. Despite standing in what Lily considered a very obvious and visible manner on the edge of the café area, James did not look once in their direction. He didn't even look up from his books! If it were any other boy, such oversight might be attributed to oblivion, but this was James Potter. He had a special ability to sense when Lily was in range, and the only reason he wouldn't acknowledge her arrival was if he was ignoring her in some way. Not that Lily cared in the least; she was just noting his change in behavior for observational purposes. "Whatever," she muttered, mimicking Arabella's earlier sentiment.

When Lily and Arabella approached the table, the haughty girl at the opposite end took one look at Arabella, narrowed her eyes, and excused herself to the restroom. Brenna too, looked less than pleased by their arrival. Her bad mood, evident from far away, was even more apparent at close range. She muttered a short "hello" and did not smile.

Erica was more effusive. "Lily! AJ! Meet Connor, Fritz, and Ashley!" The groups exchanged cordial greetings, and Erica resumed telling the story. To Arabella's relief, none of the three seemed terribly interested in her. Brenna, however, was much more hostile in her feigned disinterest; Arabella made the executive decision that she and Lily needed caffeine to get through the day, and excused herself politely. Lily slipped after her into the long line, catching herself looking in Potter's direction again. Merlin, have mercy.

Although there was no precise or distinct reason for it, Brenna was perfectly irritated with the whole situation. After Erica wrapped all the boys around her fingers by being both sensual and hysterical in a manner not seen since Mae West, Arabella swooped in and got them further enamored with her unadulterated hotness. Merlin, at least Erica was _funny_. All Arabella had to offer was shiny hair and a pretty face, for Pete's sake. Well, and a fairly nice body. Okay, so physically, the girl might have been the whole package, but that was surely offset by her being so obviously unattainable for mere mortals. The Soviet Union looked like an open and hospitable place compared to her ridiculously icy exterior. One would think that her glacial personality and clear sense of superiority would scare off potential suitors, but alas men had yet developed the ability to think with their big head. But what really irritated Brenna was that Remus, the intellect and scholar, should be above her base appeal, but was by all accounts not.

Perhaps Brenna's irritation did have a more precise origin that initially credited.

It wasn't that Brenna was jealous of Arabella's effect on people, which was hardly new at any rate, it was just that Brenna had no chance of competing with the beauty queen. Brenna was a pretty girl herself, but Arabella was on a different playing field, which gave her just a ridiculously unfair advantage. And sure, while Arabella had a borderline-psychotic temper and an otherwise wooden and dull personality, Remus didn't seem to mind. They were always so chatty – just always chatting about chatty things that clearly signified stupid Remus was in love with stupid Arabella. Like, right? It was so evident and so, _so_ annoying.

Take, for instance, the way Remus greeted Brenna that morning. When she and Erica arrived at the bookshop, Remus and his mates were already there, studying (undoubtedly some aspect of one of their ludicrous and elaborate schemes). Remus hugged Brenna, and went to wait in line with her to get a refill on his coffee. They had a lovely chat, Remus was as charming as ever, and that was that. Then when Arabella showed up an hour later, Remus again strolled over to the queue to join the pair. There they were with the hugging and the chatting and the general convivial bantering, like the same interactions he'd had with Brenna were nothing more than courtesy among friends. How much coffee did one bloke need to drink anyway? It would probably rot his insides or give him high blood pressure, or, barring those scenarios that had no data suggesting their possibilities, would at very least give him awful breath. And he deserved it, cad that he was. Brenna crossed her arms grumpily and glared at Remus, oblivious to the events at her own table.

Erica had grown up among the Emily Post sort of society and could entertain with the best of them, but this was really getting to be too much. Debbie Downer, member five of the four man project, was an extraordinarily hostile dud, yet next to her friends, she was the most appealing member of the group. Brenna was touchy and annoyingly huffy, Arabella distant and oddly emotional, if last night's tears were any indication, and even Lily seemed unusually unfocused and distracted. It was highly unusual for all members of their little clique to be so caught up in their own lives all at once, and this issue would need to be sorted immediately.

A lesser woman would have been disheartened at her friends' lack of interest in the arrangement of boys. But Erica learned early in life to focus on the upside, and instead took this turn of events as an opportunity to have her fun. The problems would still be there later, but now was the time to strike. Drowning out Brenna's irritated harrumphs, Erica focused on the three fit lads in front of her. Since her friends were obviously off the table, Erica now had no need to settle for just one of them. On unusual occasion, you could have it all.

* * *

"Okay, she's wandering down the aisle now. You know, she's not exactly giving off the I-make-terribly-slutty-choices vibe one would expect after the events of yesterday afternoon." James narrated, peering over the top of a bookshelf as casually as possible. After three tedious hours that Remus ensured were actually focused on school work, James and Sirius slipped away to commence their recon mission. It was immediately apparent that the candidate Erica had put forward wasn't viable, but James suggested they ought to keep a look out on Arabella for signs of her imminent breakdown regarding her terrible decision-making skills. Despite being offended (touchy chap), Sirius agreed.

"Yes, well, she's quite good at internalizing."

"She seems to have no interest in the dull boy on whom Erica had no designs."

"Hardly shocking. If that guy ever finds an even tolerable looking girl to touch him, I'll die of shock."

"Don't be too generous in predictions, mate. People will think you've gone soft."

"Oo, sarcasm. That's original."

"Duly noted. You do realize I'm trying to assist you."

"Then assist!"

"Overly demanding, you are. Okay, she's wandering down a different aisle now. Ah, murder mysteries! Careful mate, she might develop some plans for you."

"Oh, ha, aren't you clever?"

"What are you two doing?"

James and Sirius whipped around at the sudden interruption, knocking into the bookshelf. A few books tumbled to the floor. Lily stood before the pair, looking amused by the drama of their reaction.

"Eh?" asked Sirius.

"Er, what are you doing?" Lily asked again.

"Browsing," said Sirius composedly. He bent down and picked up one of the fallen books. "We've heard some people like these things." Sirius thumped it twice on the cover. "For sport and amusement, rumor has it."

"Yes, books." James agreed. "A swell invention. Goes well with reading."

"Another reputable past time, as it were."

"Sharpens the mind, sharpens the wit."

"Not that our wits need sharpening."

"No, we're clever enough fellows as it is."

"Never helps to be too clever, though."

"Indeed not."

"Right," Lily interrupted. "Do you mind if I borrow one of these – did you call them 'books'?"

"Well, that's the scientific name for them." James clarified.

"If such jargon makes you feel pretentious, some laymen call them 'novels'."

"'Tome' is also acceptable."

"I'll stick with 'book'," said Lily.

"That's fair."

"You're an intelligent lass."

"You have many other qualities, too."

"You're pretty,"

"You smell nice."

"Superb vocabulary."

"Excellent penmanship."

"May I have that book?" Lily held out her hand.

"Which book?"

"This book here?"

"Well she might mean that book there?"

"Valid point. Lily, did you want this book or that book?"

"I suppose I'll take the pair – they're clearly not safe with you." Lily collected a book from each boy, but did not turn to go. "Really, what are you two doing?"

"We've been helping you select books."

"Before that, we were selecting books for ourselves."

"And before that, we were studying in the café section."

"Remus made us come do homework on a Saturday."

"Can you imagine?"

"The boy needs to get out more."

"He's out now."

"This is not the kind of out to which I was referring."

"You should be more specific when you speak."

"You should be more attentive when you listen."

"I will if you will."

"I find those terms acceptable."

"I say chap, I do admire our ability to compromise."

"We ought to work for the UN, we ought to."

"Oh, we could bring world peace in a heartbeat."

"Northern Ireland? No trouble."

"Berlin Wall? No obstacle."

"James!" Lily interrupted for the umpteenth time.

"Yes dear?"

Lily bristled less at this endearment than usual. "I'm sorry I ever inquired into your actions. You two looked very suspicious, peering over that bookcase, but I can see now that the conspiracy was all in my head. I apologize for ever thinking you were spying, and I'll be going now."

"Spying?"

"You offend us, Lily."

"On who is there to spy, even?"

"Not a cute girl in the shop."

"Don't insult her, Padfoot, she's a cute girl."

"One of the cutest, to be sure. I meant other girls."

"Strange girls."

"Girls unaware of our reputations."

"Not that our reputations are in any way less than exemplary."

"We just wouldn't want any fair girl to be intimidated by our great renown."

"I apologize for insinuating any such thing." Try as she might, Lily couldn't quite manage to hide her amusement at their double act, though it made her not a bit less suspicious. "I take it you boys just like Jane Austen?" Lily gestured to the rack behind them, which housed a variety of editions of Jane Austen novels.

"Oh, it's Jamsie boy," Sirius clapped James on the shoulder. "He's a big fan." Sirius gestured to the books now in Lily's arms. "Something you have in common, it seems."

"But of course. I'll leave you to it, then." Lily waved her pair of books at them and left, looking as if she was unable to decide on being suspicious of their loitering, amused by their antics, or bewildered by James Potter's apparent taste in early nineteenth century literature.

"Git," said James.

"Wanker."

"Prat."

"Tosser."

"Who's that?"

"I apologize for calling you a tosser. _He's_ a tosser."

During their brief interaction with Lily, Arabella had returned to the adjacent café, where she was now chatting cordially with a tall, good-looking man in line ahead of her, who was clearly and undeniably a tosser.

"He's a bit short," said James, "and quite an ugly fellow to boot. What a lot in life."

Sirius gave James a sidelong glare. "Don't patronize me. That's the best-looking fellow I've ever seen." Worse, Arabella seemed to agree with him; she laughed prettily and flipped her silky black hair over her shoulder.

"I suppose he's all right." James relented.

"Did you see that?" Sirius hissed, creeping up the aisle toward the café. "She did the flirtatious hair flip!"

"Perhaps her hair was just in her way?"

Sirius paused and glared at James over his shoulder.

"All right," James conceded, "I suppose that flip had a mildly flirtatious element to it, discernible only to the trained eye."

"Hmph." Sirius agreed.

There was a pause. "Do you ever get the vague sense that we do an unnaturally large amount of surreptitious eavesdropping?"

Sirius mulled over the quandary for a short moment. "That involves more self-evaluation than I'm currently prepared to do."

"That's probably wise." James turned back to the scene before them. Another pause. "Does it qualify as eavesdropping if we can't actually hear the conversation?"

"Your discussion of our hobbies is rapidly broaching the sort of ambiguous territory that borders the province of the socially unacceptable, and I'm much too hung over to discuss the exact line that separates recon from stalking."

James sighed. There was good reason they all shied from introspection, but he was bored just standing there, watching her talk to some strange bloke. James Potter was a man of action. He needed to be in the thick of things, central to the action. "I'm going in!" James announced.

Sirius turned wildly to face James, spluttering. "No!" he finally managed to object, but it was too late.

"Cover me," James slipped out of Sirius's grasp, sped up the aisle, and sauntered nonchalantly over to the baked goods section, where he peered intently at the pastries behind the glass. Sirius stifled a groan at the absurdity of it all (not in the least the absurdity of his own patheticness), but he couldn't help but watch the train wreck surely about to unfold before his eyes.

Sirius remained in the trenches, pretending to gaze at the selection of new releases in front of him as a cover story. So focused was he on pretending to focus on the books that he did not notice another patron until she was within inches of him. "You look like you know your way around a bookshop. Do you have any recommendations for me?"

Barely registering her request, Sirius grabbed the first book in front of him and unceremoniously thrust it into her chest. "Here," he grunted, without glancing away from the café.

"Thanks," the girl muttered after a moment and she looked fairly put out as she walked away. Sirius did not notice.

On the front lines, it was not difficult for James to gather intelligence. The strange bloke was telling an apparently amusing story. James, on his mental tally, awarded the man points for his Irish accent (unfortunately popular with the ladies, who apparently did not attribute IRA bombings with the lot of the pesky Irishmen – it was an unfair advantage in the romantic field) but took deductions for choosing a story over flirtatious banter (rookie mistake).

The barista interjected into the conversation. "Large coffee for you, sir. I apologize for the wait."

"Thank you. Well, AJ, it was a pleasure to meet you. Here's my number – call me, if you'd like." He strode out of the shop, coffee in hand, with no further comment.

Arabella looked slightly confused at the slip of paper placed in her palm, as if she hadn't expected so the pass at her or the abrupt departure. James for the life of him couldn't imagine why she was the least bit surprised, as if this very scenario hadn't been happening for years on end. Arabella put the disregarded number in her pocket and caught James's eye as she looked up. She shrugged.

James shrugged back. "A bit abrupt, eh?"

"You're telling me."

"Who was that?"

Arabella spooned the foam at the top of her cappuccino. "A new friend, apparently. Funny bloke."

"He's a fairly good-looking guy."

"Well I could give you his number, if you'd like. I've recently acquired it."

"I'll try to resist."

"If there are any other numbers you need, I can help you there." Arabella turned to glance over her shoulder. James followed her gaze to where Lily sat, already absorbed in the book she'd taken from James.

"AJ, my dear, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." James said, wrapping his arm around Arabella's shoulders. She laughed.

Still hiding behind the bookshelf, Sirius watched the traitorous James Potter whisper conspiratorially with the enemy camp. "That single-minded git," he muttered grumpily, slinking off to the automotive and motorcycle section to brood haughtily. It was difficult to accomplish objectives when one remained unsure of the desired outcome, especially when there was the increasing possibility that no resolution would bring complete satisfaction.

* * *

A/N: THANKS TO ALL MY FABULOUS REVIEWERS!


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